A Wonderful Kind Of Love
by kate10011
Summary: Quinn barely survives a near fatal car accident and the only person she will allow to be with her is Puck. 3rd in a series although chronologically its 1st, do not need to read the others to understand this . Sequels to A Challenging Kind Of Love and A Specialist Kind Of Love.


Rachel is well aware that she is hovering. But she knows that Noah will not accept any form of comfort until he is good and damn well ready. So until then she hovers.

"God she's stupid" He mutters after a while.

"Noah?" Rachel questions, trying to get him to open up to her.

"What!" He exclaims, "How fucking stupid could she be, texting and driving, she's a fucking idiot"

Everyone in the room is taken back by his statement, "Noah" a masculine voice warns, he knows that voice, he knows that tone.

"Yes Noah, that's my _don't fuck with me_ tone" Rabbi Johnstone said, approaching Rachel and Puck, "Now sit down and shut up before one of your friends clobers you for being such an insensitive moron."

The Rabbi is young, in his early thirties, and very attractive. He is unmarried and has no children, by choice. Instead he spends his day focusing on the Jewish community of Lima, he considers the youngesters his children, the women his sisters, the men his brothers and the elderly his parents. He's taken a special interest in Noah and Rachel, fatherless and motherless respectively.

Noah clasps his hands together and rests his elbows on his knees, dropping his head. Rachel wraps her hands around his (or tries to anyway) and drops a kiss to the side of his head. The Rabbi can't help but remember the first time he saw them like this, the day Robert Puckerman skipped town, he had been at the Berry's telling the older men, looking for help for Moira, when Rachel (who had been eavesdropping) grabbed her bright pink raincoat and sprinted all the way across Lima to Puck before anyone could stop her. For a while he thought they'd end up together, until he saw Noah hug Quinn Fabray after his first highschool football game, and that idea disappeared instantly, now the poor girl was in hospital fighting for her life.

He spots Tina Cohen-Chang crying in the arms of an Asian boy, walking over and crouching in front of the poor girl, she introduces the boy as her boyfriend, Michael Chang. "So, have Rachel and Noah had an argument yet?" He asks Tina and Mike after ten or so minutes comforting the young couple.

"No more so than usual" Mike answers.

"Great" The Rabbi mutters, he has known those two since the day they were born, and he knows that when things get serious, they get arguing, and he really doesn't want to be the one standing in the middle trying to stop them from verbally ripping spreads off each other.

Looking around the room, he recognizes the whole Glee club from the long conversations he and Rachel have had about her future as a Broadway star. He recognizes the glee club director, the school councilor, whom he's had many conversations about Noah with, and the neurotic cheerleading coach. He comforts Tina for a few minutes, trying to ignore Rachel and Noah's not-so-hushed argument.

The Rabbi joins the adults, who are trying to decide whether to try and convince the kids to go home overnight. He almost misses the frazzled blonde rushing into the waiting area.

"Megan" Puck says, grabbing her attention.

"Puck, where's Quinn?" Megan Fabray asks, tears flowing down her face, "Where's Mum?"

"She's resting" Puck says, "She gave a big donation of blood for Quinn" Only Judy Fabray could convince the doctors to allow her to give twice the allowed limit on a blood donation.

"Where's the nurse, does Quinn need more blood" Megan asks frantically, "We're the same blood type, I could give a donation right now. Quinn donated for me once, a few years ago, I didn't end up needing it though, do you think they still have that blood to give back to her? Because if she needs more blood I'll give it to her right now"

"Megan" Rabbi Johnstone interrupts, "Why don't you take a seat."

"I'm not Jewish" The woman blurts out as the Rabbi guides her into a seat, "You shouldn't help me because I'm not Jewish"

"That's okay, I don't think God will mind given the circumstances" The Rabbi chuckles, "Now we need you to calm down, we don't have an update on Quinn right now, but if she does need a donation the nurses will let us know, however if you don't stay calm the nurses won't allow you to donate at all."

"Right stay calm, for Quinn, because she's in surgery, and we should be focused on that" The woman mutters, "Quinn's in surgery, because she was in a car accident." She looks up suddenly, "Why the hell was she texting and driving" She screams, "Does she know how stupid that is?"

"That's what I said" Puck exclaims, and Rachel whacks him across the back of the head.

"Did Rachel Berry just….." Kurt trails off.

"What the hell" Artie deadpans.

"Sometimes it's the only way to get through to him" Rachel shrugs, "And his Mum gave me permission so its okay."

"Ok, let's all just sit down and talk about this rationally" The Rabbi says ignoring Rachel's violent little outburst, because honestly it's the only way to get through to Noah some days, "Obviously we all agree that Quinn should not have been texting and driving, it's a very dangerous thing to do, and today we've all seen the consequences. Quinn is extremely lucky; she was very nearly killed, and I can only hope that in future, all of us can learn from what is happening to Quinn and NEVER text while driving. Driving can be extremely dangerous, especially if we take our own personal safety, the safety of our passengers and those fellow road users for granted. But none of that will help Quinn right now, for now, we wait, and we pray and we hope and we wish that Quinn will be okay."

"We should find that chapel" Mercedes says quietly, "So we can all pray for Quinn"

"Guys, you don't have to pray if you don't want to" Mr. Schue interrupts, "I know that some of you have different feelings about God and his place in your lives, so none of you should feel pressured to pray."

"Mr. Schue, I may not believe in God, no offense Rabbi" Kurt says, "But I think we should all pray for Quinn, it's what she would have wanted."

"To believe in God is a choice, and to find his place in our lives is a challenge" The Rabbi says, "Your belief is your belief, it belongs to you and you should not have to apologize for your beliefs. And Tina for the 2 billionth time, you can choose where you want to pray, wherever you are most comfortable, your mother is Jewish, your father is Catholic, the hospital temple is on the fourth floor, the church is on the second, it's your choice and no one will be offended." The Asian girl blushes as the Rabbi calls her out on her internal debate.

"Shit Hannah" Puck blurts out.

"She's with family" The Rabbi tells him, by family he means that one of the other Jewish families was happy to take Puck's 11 year old sister for the night when they found out that there had been an accident.

"And the only Yiddish I remember is cursing" Puck says.

"That's because you haven't been to Temple of your own volition in four years" The Rabbi reminds him, "And even then you prayed for a less annoying sister."

"And they say I'm a bad Jew" Tina jokes shyly.

"Family of Quinn Fabray?" A doctor asks, everyone turns to him, "All of you?"

"I'm her sister" Megan says, scrambling to her feet, "And she'd want them all to know what's happening, is she okay, she is alive, is she awake, can we see her…."

"Okay, just calm down" The doctor says, "Quinn is alive, she's out of surgery and awake. She's sustained spinal damage by it will be a few more days until we know the extent of it, we were able to stop all the internal bleeding, she has a few broken bones but apart from that she has no memory loss or brain damage that we can tell. She's alert, aware of her surroundings, and able to follow our directions, she's asking for a Puck?"

"That's me" Puck says, "Can we see her?"

"I'll take you to her" The doctor says, "Only one person at a time for now though, we don't want to overwhelm her."

"Her sister should go then" Puck says, indicating to Megan.

"She was pretty insistent on seeing you immediately." The doctor stammers.

"Your totally afraid of her aren't you?" Puck questions, assumed.

"Yeah" The doctor blushes, thankful that Puck shrugs and follows him down the hall. Puck takes a deep breath before he walks into Quinn's room, he's taken back to see her covered by so many monitors and tubes.

* * *

"Your terrifying the doctor's already Fabray" Puck drawls, sitting down beside her.

"Good you're here" Quinn says, "Now help me convince the doctor's that I'm completely fine and I can go home immediately, I don't need anymore tests or anything"

"Quinn" He sighs.

"No, I'm fine, see I can move my feet and everything" He sees her toes wriggle under the blanket, but he's not convinced at all that she's fine, it's going to be a long night.

* * *

Three days later, Puck is still sitting beside Quinn in the hospital because he's the only one that she'll allow near her. He honestly doesn't know why, since he deflowered her sophomore year and Finn dumped her, they've barely interacted at all, bar when she stayed with his family for a few months between her dad kicking her out because the whole town found out she'd given up her V-Card before marriage and when her parents got divorced and she moved back in with her mother. Yet somehow she only lets him within a few feet of her without kicking up a mayor bitch-fit.

"Puck" Quinn asks shyly.

"What" He mutters.

"Um" She bites her lip, a dead giveaway that she's nervous.

"Spill Fabray" Puck orders.

"Can you hold me for a while?" She asks nervously, he looks at all the wires and tubes running off her and thinks of the damage to her spine, that's still unstable.

"That's not a good idea Q" Puck says, as a nurse steps into the room, "You need to be still"

"Is everything okay?" The nurse asks as she goes through Quinn's chart.

"I just want someone to hold me for awhile" Quinn sobs.

"I'm sorry Miss Fabray, but that's not a good idea, the fractures in our spine are unstable, one jolt and they could break, risking permanent paralysis." The Nurse explains again, Quinn sobs harder so the nurse whispers to Puck that she'll be back with the doctor. He sits on the chair beside her bed helplessly stroking her hair while she cries. A few minutes later the doctor, the physio and the nurse enter the room.

"Good afternoon Miss Fabray" The doctor says, "We believe we have some good news for you." Quinn turns her head away, considering it's the only part of her body not strapped to the bed to keep her still, the doctor is however undeterred, "Your brace is ready, we can finally get you out of that bed."

Quinn ignores the physio as she approaches the bed, removing the sheet and begins to work on removing the strapping. "You'll be able to get that hug too" The nurse tells Quinn, smiling at Puck.

That seems to bring Quinn out of her state, and slowly the physio and the doctor strap her into the brace and bring her to a sitting position. "It'll be a month before we get you walking again, but we'll start some recovery exercises in the next week or two, once the soreness fades."

The nurse helps Quinn to maneuver slowly off the bed and into Puck's lap, he wraps his arms around her and allows her to cry into the crook of his neck. They are left alone after a few minutes, Puck's vaguely aware that the hospital staff think he and Quinn are a couple, its awkward for his mother who works on the other side of this floor and has been subjected to gossip about her son in the break-room, when he tried to apologize to her about it she merely reminded him that she'd heard much worse things about him than being in love with a girl.

"Q, why the hell do you want me here?" Puck asks suddenly.

"Because you're the only one who didn't say I'm sorry" She whispers.

"What?"

"When everyone else visited me, they said I'm sorry" She explained, "I don't want their pity"

"I don't feel sorry for you Quinn, I'm fucking pissed as hell at you" He retorts, "How could you be so fucking stupid"

She starts sobbing again and he tightens his arms around her, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she repeats, "It's the stupidest thing I did since I left you for Finn in fourth grade"

"Duh" He mutters causing her to laugh.

* * *

Quinn returns to school three weeks later once the doctors assure her that her fractures are more stable, she begs Puck not to tell people that she has unstable fractures and instead tells people that she has limited feeling in her legs, to prevent others from the hysteria and uncertainty she is feeling.

She sees Puck laughing when she announces to the Glee club that texting while driving was the stupidest thing she's done since she gave it up to Puck, and she takes it as a silent acknowledgement that he knows she didn't really mean it. But when he calls her Lady Fabray, well that pisses her off. He only says it when he's trying to be passive aggressive, and it never fails to make her blood boil. She rolls up behind him in between fourth and fifth periods, takes her binder off her lap and whacks him across the butt with it as hard as she can, causing him to jump, throwing off his game with his latest Cheeri-ho. Instead of yelling at her, he grabs the handles of her wheelchair and pushes her into the choir room, locking her in and walking away. Five seconds later she gets a text: Puckerman 1, Perfect Attendance 0.

* * *

Quinn and Pucks prank war becomes the talk of the school, mostly because it's the most exciting thing to happen in the sad, boring history of McKinnley High School.

At first people are unsure of whether they support Puck being mean to a girl in a wheelchair, but when Quinn paints his locker pink and fills it with stuffed unicorns and rainbow streamers, its game on. Puck blocks off every wheelchair entrance to the school with enough string run the boundary of the football field a hundred times over, so Quinn replaces his clothes with her old cheerleading uniform while he's in gym. He superglues the breaks off her wheelchair on while she's not paying attention, so she superglues his things to the inside of his locker. When he runs a video of her drunken screeching the lyrics of a Britney Spears song with Santana in the place of the morning annoucements, she plasters the school with photos of him and his sister Hannah playing Barbie's. The final straw comes when Puck has clowns jump out at her at random times of the day to scare her every day for a week and she dyes his Mohawk bright pink.

* * *

The Glee Club, minus Puck, is in hysterics over a picture of Puck's pink Mohawk before practice.

"Okay" Mercedes says breathlessly, "How did you do it?"

"Yes, tell" Kurt chimes in.

"Well" Quinn says hesitantly, "His Mum owed me a favor and she always hated his Mohawk, she was more than happy to help"

"And how did you get I Love Quinn written into the side of his head without him noticing?" Tina asks.

"During his nap in the nurses office" Quinn shrugs. When Puck enters the choir room with a clean-shaven head, she looks at him smugly, "Ready to grovel at my feet yet Puckerman"

"In your dreams Fabray" Puck retorts, "I'll get you back, may not be today, may not be next week, but eventually, I'll win this thing"

* * *

Puck's threat hangs over Quinn's head for about three days before she realizes that he's probably given up and is to proud to admit defeat. So she goes on with her life, except now Puck starts wheeling her to class and driving her to her doctor's appointments. Soon the flirting they begun during the prank war escalates with enough sexual tension to just about smoother the entire town, and Puck takes to kissing her cheek or her forehead in lieu of an actual greeting. She knows its crazy when her feelings for him go through the roof in only a few weeks, and at the same time its infuriating that he won't actually make a move. It's not like the man is shy or anything.

One day, they're in the choir room, he's skipping gym and she's avoiding the library, when she losses her patience with him.

"Look, if your going to ask me out man up and do it already, if your not can you just leave me the hell alone" She shouts, regretting it as the words fly from her mouth.

"Look Quinn" He says calmly. "Even since the accident… Things have been different between us…"

"No, I get it" She says, wheeling out of the room before he can stop her.

* * *

The girls find her in the bathroom re-applying her makeup, she sobbed off what she had on this morning.

"I saw you sneak off with Noah before gym" Rachel says to her excitedly, "Any progress?"

"Yeah Q, you tapped that yet?" Santana asks.

"Look, Puck's not attracted to me anymore, between the chair and the scars he's lost any interest he ever had in me" Quinn says flatly, "It's not going to happen so I'd appreciate it if you all never mentioned it again."

At that moment Puck steps into the room, "OUT" he demands, "Q and I need to talk"

"Noah, this is the girl's bathroom" Rachel says, "If anything we should be kicking you out."

"Out" He repeats, with a look so intense they all flee the room. He leans back again the door with one foot propped against it, "You're an idiot Quinn" He states, "I don't give a shit about your 4.0 GP-whatever, or your acceptance to Fancy Ass academy, you're the biggest idiot I've ever met."

"Puck, I get it, your not attracted to me" Quinn says, "Can you just leave me alone"

"You are such a fucking idiot, you actually believe that" He yells, "Of course I'm fucking attracted to you, I have been since you started parading around in that short as fuck cheerleading uniform, I was when you showed me what was under the fucking thing, and I'm still fucking attracted to you in that chair that we both know you barely need."

"Your attracted to anything with boobs Puck" She retorts, "It's not exactly a huge complement"

"I'm attracted to you Fabray, have you not fucking noticed that the only girls getting a go on the Puckerman express are Cheerios or blondes" He rebuts, "Cheap, crappy wannabe versions of you, even fucking Santana noticed that shit."

"What the hell are you saying?" She yells, "Your trying to get me to sleep with you again, never done it with a girl in a wheelchair before."

"I'm saying I'm fucking in love with you Quinn" He yells back, "And your to stupid to notice and to fucking impatient to sit around long enough for me to fucking tell you"

"Well, in case you haven't noticed I love you too" She yells at him. "And your not doing a thing about it"

"What the hell do you want me to do?" He retorts, his voice softening instantly.

"Getting your butt over here and kissing me would be a start" She says. He pushes off the door and moves across the room and is pressing his lips to hers in seconds. It's raw and rough and passionate, but they wouldn't change it for the world. He wraps an arm around her back, and pulls her to her feet, she kicks the wheelchair back behind her. She's crying when they come up for air and he wipes away her tears with the pad of his thumb.

"Can I walk my new girlfriend to class?" He asks. She places another sloppy kiss on his lips. "I'll take that as a yes" he mutters.

* * *

The school irrupts in whispers, and a couple of joyful screeches (Kurt, Mercedes and Rachel), when Puck and Quinn walk through the hallway hand-in-hand, parting at her classroom with a chaste kiss. She practically crash-tackles Rachel when she attempts to hug her in the cafeteria at lunch and Puck receives multiple high-fives from jocks, congratulating him for tapping that (he really doesn't feel the need to correct the assumption, his reputation is important to him after all).

He takes her to the movies that night, and she spends half of it on his lap, her mouth fused to his. A week later, he takes her to dinner at his house so she can meet his mother, officially as his girlfriend, and the next night he meets her mother as well. They've been dating for three months when he drops the bombshell on her, he wants to join the army.

"No" She states, shaking her head.

"No, what Quinn?" He asks.

"No, you're not joining the army" She states calmly.

"That's not exactly your decision" He rebuts.

"It is my decision" She retorts, "I'm your girlfriend, we are in this together and you are not joining the army."

"What do you want me to do Quinn" He exclaims angrily, "Stay in Lima forever, or work odd jobs for minimum wage for the rest of my life."

"You can go to college, you can play your music" She yells, "Don't do something stupid and get yourself blown up, are you really that desperate to leave me!"

"You really think I want to fucking leave you!" He exclaims, "When I barely let you out of my sight most days, and refuse to let you leave until the very last second, you really think I want to spend anytime away from you"

"Then why the hell do you want to join the army?" She shouts.

"Quinn, sit down" He says calmly. Instead of sitting on the bed next to him, she sits on his lap, "There's no way in hell any college would accept me, and even if they did, I couldn't afford it anyway, and you fucking know why I'll never have any sort of music career," She hates herself for suggesting that, especially since she was the only one he opened up to about his dad leaving his family to try and have a music career, "This is the best option for me, I really think I'm going to like it, it's a good job, it's the best option I have"

"Promise me you'll always come back to me" She demands, "That I'll _never_ get a phone call at three am to tell me your not coming home."

"I promise Q" He whispers, kissing the side of her neck, "I'll always come home to you"

"I'm not even going to pretend to like this" She warns, "But I'll support you, if this is what's best for you, I'll support you"

"Thank-you" He whispers.

She grabs the front of his shirt as she allows herself to fall backwards onto his bed, pulling him on top of her, she has his shirt off and his belt undone before he has time to process what's happening.

"Are you sure Quinn" He asks, that's right ladies and gentleman, Noah "The Sex Shark" Puckerman, has been celibate for three months until she's ready to sleep with him again. In fact, he's turned her down twice, once when he figured out she was doing it because she thought he was going to leave her if she didn't, and the second time when she propositioned him after _way_ too many jelly shots at some random party.

"Make love to me" She whispers, "Let me give you the best reason for you to come home to me"

"We don't have to" He tells her. She pushes him onto his back and straddles his hips, slowly she removes her dress, revealing a cute, yet sexy, matching bra and panty set.

"Either you are going to get me off or you can watch me do it myself Noah" She threatens him.

"Shit" He splutters, "can we do both?"

She rolls her eyes at him and leans down to fuse their lips together, "We have the whole night, and I don't plan on sleeping"

"Crazy" He mutters.

"Are you complaining?" She asks as he unhooks her bra.

"What do you fucking think?" He replies.

* * *

He gets her off once with his fingers and once with his mouth before he slides into her, watching the pleasure written across her face. "You sure your okay" He whispers in her ear.

"I'm fine, my back is fine" She says, "Please move"

He sets a slow pace, never breaking eye contact as he moves inside her, "Tell me what you want Quinn"

"Faster" She whispers

He doubles his speed, "Do you like fast Quinn?"

"Yes" She moans.

"Tell me" He demands.

"I like it fast" She whispers shyly, "I like it when you fuck me"

"What else do you like?" He prompts.

"When your cock stretches me out" She says boldly. "When your big cock fills me up"

"Holy fuck Quinn" He groans. "What the hell happened to you"

"You" She moans, feeling his hand slip between them and work her clit, "Harder, fuck me Noah"

"I am" He whispers, licking the shell of her ear.

"Noah" She moans loudly as she comes, only for her tightening walls to bring his orgasm as well.

"Holy Fuck" Puck mutters after he's disposed of the condom and rejoined her in bed, "I always knew that you were hot, but fuck Quinn"

She blushes and hides her face in his chest, "It's embarrassing"

"What is?" He asks, moving so her can see her face, "What?"

"I didn't mean to say that stuff" She stammers, "But you were…. And I think I lost my mind, and I was so worked up…. I can't believe I said that outloud."

"Hey" He whispers, causing her to look at him, "Don't be embarrassed, you can tell me anything, and you telling me how good it is, well its actually the hottest thing ever."

"So I could tell you everything?" She questions, suddenly feeling bold, "Like all my dirty little fantasies about you" He's shocked, even more so when she adds, "The ones I use to get myself off"

"Fuck Quinn" He groans, "Don't just fucking tell me, let me make 'em come fucking true"

"Really?" She questions, employing the smirk she accidentally learnt from him.

"Fuck" He mutters.

"So like you taking me from behind?" She says innocently, "Because Santana was talking about it, you know at the Glee girls sleepover last weekend, and she mentioned how good you were at it, and it got me thinking…."

"Thinking what Quinn?" He prompts.

"What it would feel like to get taken from behind, how good you would feel inside me" She whispers, "I got myself so worked up that I had to excuse myself" She runs her hand down his chest, stopping just short of where he needs her hand, "And take care of myself in the bathroom"

"Your evil" He mutters when he sees her little smirk.

"Are you going to fulfill my little fantasy Noah?" She asks innocently.

"Get up on our knees, face the wall and hold the headboard" He demands, slapping her butt lightly. She complies quickly, shaking her butt a little, he kneels behind her, wrapping on arm around her waist, resting his hand on her hip while he uses the other arm to brace himself against the headboard, "Is my little minx ready?" he asks.

"Fuck" She whispers, "I'm dripping down my legs Noah, if you don't take care of me soon, I might have to take matters into my own hands again, and this time, I won't let you watch."

He smirks, "No need to do anything stupid crazy girl."

* * *

Puck drives Quinn to school that Monday and drops her off at her locker just before the start of class, the kiss they share is a little sloppier than usual. She giggles when he whispers in her ear that she's the hottest girl in this dump before he saunters off to his locker.

"Holy fuck!" Santana exclaims, leaning against the locker next to Quinn's, "You totally gave it up to Fuckerman again"

"Santana!" Quinn hisses, "Lower your voice"

"Oh shit" Santana exclaims, "I know that smirk, you totally fucked him so many times he couldn't get it up again."

"Santana" Quinn whisper-yells.

"You dirty little whore" Santana says, "Can you even walk?"

"I'm fine" Quinn says, slamming the door of her locker, "It's none of your business anyway."

"Okay slutty" Santana says mockingly, "Bleachers at lunch, girls only."

* * *

Santana, Brittany, Quinn, Rachel and Tina meet up on the bleachers for lunch, the group looks odd from an outsiders perspective, but their actually just the only sexually active girls in Glee.

"Spill" Santana tells Quinn, "Tell us how good Puckerman is"

"It's private" Quinn blushes, "It's just between us"

"Please, nearly every girl in school has had a go round with Puck, and if they haven't they're either creaming themselves in anticipation or dorky little prudes" Santana says, "Like we haven't heard it all before."

"Excuse me, I would like to point out that I am neither a prude, or "creaming" myself over Puck" Tina points out, "I'm perfectly happy with the hot Asian sex I'm getting"

"Apart from the Asian reference I would like to second Tina's amendment" Rachel says.

"Second denied" Santana exclaims, "You totally almost gave it up to the moron after Finnonnce gave it up to me, holy fuck I should toats be a lawyer."

"I should be a lobster" Brittany says. "Or a fairy."

"It's not like Puck will care if you want to tell us Quinn." Tina says, she's actually more vocal in small groups, "Everyone brags"

"Puck is really good" Brittany says, "But he's mean"

"He's best when he's mean" Santana says, "Down and dirty's his thing"

"Okay, I don't want to hear about you having sex with my boyfriend" Quinn exclaims.

"Give us details, or I will give you an indepth lecture on the time Puckerman and I fulfilled a naughty nurse fantasy."

"Santana!" Rachel exclaims, "You can't blackmail someone into talking about their sex life"

"You really want to know" Quinn asks, "Fine, we slept together, multiple times, and it was great, it was fun, and I lost count of the number of times he got me off, and he was really sweet and he treated me well and by the time it was over, I was so tired I slept for 11 hours straight."

"Wow" The others mutter.

"Didn't know you had it in you" Santana says, "I'm proud!"

* * *

Glee Club just happens to be right after lunch so the girls stroll in together, only fractionally late, and then split up to sit next to their respective significant others. When Quinn drops herself into the seat beside Puck, he slings his arm over the back of her chair and leans over to whisper in her ear,

"Where have you been crazy girl?" He asks, chuckling as she blushes scarlet, "What?"

"You call me the nickname you came up with during foreplay and you expect me not to react" She hisses, and he chuckles again, "Damn you Puckerman!"

"You were thanking God for my fine ass on Saturday night" He whispers, a little too loudly.

"Gee Fuckerman!" Santana exclaims, "Brag much?"

"Fuck you Lopez" Puck replies, completely ignoring the fact that Mr. Schue and Coach Sylvester had just entered the room.

"Puck, I can only give you so many detentions for your language" Mr. Schue chides him. "Can you just keep it G rated at school please?"

"Does my badass version of English offend your delicate sensibilities Schue?" Puck asks, leaning back in his chair and crossing his arms defiantly.

"I don't know whether I should be thankful you can correctly use the word sensibilities or frustrated that you think bad grammar and atrocious curse words are a good thing" Mr Schue sighs.

"Your gonna be so bored without me Schue" Puck replies as Quinn shakes her head at him, "I mean you'll have an extra five minutes every practice where you don't have to give me another detention slip"

"And you'll have an extra five hours a week" Mr. Schue says, handing him yet another pink detention slip before turning back to the group, "Now we haven't nailed the intro for _Paradise_ yet, so I want to spend at least the first half of the lesson working on it"

* * *

Quinn is spending a second weekend in a row at the Puckerman house, honestly who knows why her Mum believes her when she says that she is helping Puck babysit Hannah. After a particularly heated make out session on the couch after Hannah went to bed, followed by two steamy rounds in Puck's bedroom, Quinn decides to take a shower.

She screams in shock when she glances in the mirror as she towels herself off, quickly she gets dressed and storms into Puck's bedroom. He's in hysterics as soon as he sees her.

"What the hell did you do to me!" She yells. Something in his shower, most likely his mother/sisters bodywash has turned her skin blue.

"I told you I'd get you back babe" Puck laughs, taking a photo of her with his phone and sending it to the New Directions with the caption _Payback's an even bigger bitch than Santana._

"I hate you!" She yells, "I look like a fucking Smurf"

"You tried to out prank the master babe" He laughs.

"I can't believe you did this to me" She says, pouting, "I want a truce."

"You surrender?" He clarifies.

"Yes, I surrender" She pouts, "I bow down to the master and all that shit"

"Now do you want to see what the Glosers think of your new look" He asks, pulling her onto his lap and letting her read his texts messages, pointedly ignoring how angry she is at him.

**Frankenteen: **Awesome dude, on a scale of 1 to 10, how pissed is she? Has she taken ur balls yet?

**Broadway:** That's incredibly mean Noah, you really should be ashamed for doing such an awful thing to your girlfriend.

**Porcelain: **OMG! I seriously hope you haven't stained her skin, tell her to come 2 mine immediately, setting up the spa right now!

**Ditzy: **You should tell Quinn that Halloween isn't tell October, but it's okay, sometimes I forget 2.

**Queen Bitch: **Fuck U Puckerman!

**Chocolate Thunder:**What the hell did you do to my girl?!

**Trouty Mouth: **U R a dead man when she gets done with u Puck!

**Wheels: **Skank Quinn 2.0? (kidding, please don't kill me)

**Goth Chick: **That's so mean Puck, how could you?

**Ninja: **If she dumps ur ass for this, I'm so laughing!

**Curly: **LOL, can't wait for her revenge!

* * *

Prom fever sweeps the school three weeks from the big event, guys go all out asking girls to the big dance and Quinn is beginning to miss the days where their weren't crying girls in the bathroom because the _love of their life_, who they may or may not have ever spoken to, asked some _trampy, slutty, bitch_ to prom instead of them.

She doesn't know what to expect from Puck, or whether he even plans on going to Prom at all, but she finds that it's the most fun thing about being with him, the constant element of surprise.

He is leaning on the wall casually waiting for her to finish putting away her books after school when a freshman cheerio nearly bowls Quinn over in her rush to the rest room. Puck grabs her to keep her steady on her feet and pulls her to his chest seconds after he ascertains that she's just in shock and not injured.

"You okay?" He whispers to her, taking her schoolbag out of her hands and throwing it over his shoulder with his own, emptier, bag.

"Yeah I'm good" She replies as they separate and walk towards the exit of the school, "I'm just so damn sick of all these girls crying everywhere, for once, just one time, I want to walk into the bathroom between classes and not see some girl sobbing on the floor and expecting sympathy" she rants.

"What's with that anyway?" He asks, "Is every chick in Lima on the rag this week or what?"

"No you ass" She says, slapping his arm with her binder, "It's Prom, the so called love of their life just asked another girl"

"Oh right, that" He says, throwing their bags into the back of his truck and leaning against it, "Well, can you be seen with a Lima Loser at this thing, or do you need someone cooler to protect your rep?"

"Seriously?" She asks dryly, "That's your way of asking me to Prom"

"Take it or leave it babe" He shrugs, "And if you do say yes, I may have gotten you something to celebrate the end of your physio."

"Yes and gimme" She says, kissing him chastely. He reaches into the truck and rummages through the glovebox until he finds the square box he's looking for, he hands the box to her and watches her eyes light up when she opens it. Inside is the necklace she had drooled over when they had been shopping for her Mum's birthday last week, and she can't believe he spend $400 on a necklace for her. "It's beautiful, but you shouldn't have spent this much on me"

"Think of it as your graduation, birthday and Christmas present all in one" He tells her as her eyes glaze over, "If you cry I'm leaving you here, fair warning."

"Your amazing" She tells him as she buries her head in the crook of his neck.

"What did you do Puckerman?" Kurt yells accusing as he, Blaine, Finn and Rachel cross the parking lot towards them. "Why is Barbie crying?"

"I didn't do shit" Puck exclaims, keeping his arms wrapped around Quinn.

"I need to rethink my Prom dress" Quinn exclaims, turning to Kurt and Rachel.

"What?" Kurt exclaims, "You found the perfect dress why the hell would you change it, what did the Neanderthal do?"

Quinn opened the jewellery box again so that she could should Kurt and Rachel the contents.

"OMG" They both exclaimed.

"It's beautiful" Rachel tells her friend, glancing at an awkward looking Puck, "You have great taste in jewelry Noah"

"Quinn picked it, I just paid" Puck said dismissively.

"It totally justifies the need to find a new dress" Kurt said, "We'll go tomorrow straight after school"

"Come on Fabray" Puck said, "You're gonna be late to your appointment."

"I'll see you guys tomorrow" Quinn said, turning back to Puck, "You are seriously the best boyfriend ever, you know?" she said, kissing him before letting him help her into the truck.

* * *

Quinn ends up in a Prom dress that Rachel intended on wearing until she found a red dress that was perfect for her and the girls swapped dresses at the last minute. All the Glee girls get ready in Rachel's room as the boys wait downstairs and the parents chat amicably in the dinning room.

Puck's breath catches in his throat when he sees Quinn walk tentatively down the stairs in the form fitting beige dress and the necklace he brought her, holding his hand out to her to help her descend the final few stairs.

"You look amazing babe" He whispers in her ear before kissing her softly, "Beautiful"

"Thank-you handsome" She giggles as their mothers use every ounce of self-restraint they have to give their children a moment to themselves, "You can fuss over us now, we've had our moment" she tell them.

"Oh Quinny" Her mother sighs, patting her daughters cheek lovingly and adjusting a stray hair, "You're so beautiful"

"You're so cute together" Moira tells him, readjusting the collar of her son's jacket and straightening his tie. "Good gracious"

"Your gonna win Prom King and Queen for sure" Hannah exclaims, looking at Quinn with complete adoration in her eyes.

"Hey, what about me?" Rachel exclaims playfully, putting her hands on her hips and scowling theatrically.

"Sorry Rach, but people are gonna buy into the fairytale ya know?" Hannah exclaims, "The Princess and the Pauper"

"At least she her references are almost right!" Mike exclaims, before muttering just loud enough for everyone to hear him "Eggs Benedict"

"Hey, leave him alone" Quinn exclaims, holding Puck tighter, "You're all being so mean"

"Quinn, he believed Finn when he said his Mum had prostate cancer" Rachel exclaims, "You didn't pick him for his brains"

"Oh Noah" Moira exclaims, covering her face with her hand as the other adults chuckle.

"And Finn believed me when I told him I got impregnanted via hot-tub" Quinn exclaimed, "You obviously didn't pick him for his brain either"

"Finn, we need to have a chat buddy" Burt chuckled as Carol shook her head.

"Hey Hiram" Leroy whispered loudly, "We have nothing to worry about anymore!"

Everyone in the room laughed at Finn's expense, even Finn, until Hannah interrupted the moment that she didn't understand or find remotely funny, by demanding photos of everyone in various different combinations. That exercise took nearly an hour, and by the time that they were done, a limo was waiting to take them all to prom.

* * *

The group spend most the night dancing in alternating combinations and providing the entertainment for the evening. Before they knew it, Prom was winding down and the nominees for Prom King and Queen were being called to the stage. On one side, Puck, Finn, Mike and some loser with a mullet from the hockey team stood reluctantly, while the other side of the stage, Quinn, Santana, Brittany and Rachel stood nervously.

"I am proud to announce the winners of the 2012 William McKinnley High Prom King and Queen are Noah Puckerman and Quinn Fabray" Principal Figgins announced in his annoying, droning voice, as Kurt and Brittany placed plastic crowns on the winners head, "They will now share their first dance"

Puck led Quinn, somewhat reluctantly, to the middle of the dance floor under the spotlight, where they slow-danced to a duet by Tina and Santana.

"You finally got Prom Queen, Fabray" Puck whispered into her ear, "And you kept your fuckin' sanity this time"

"Oh God, don't remind me" She muttered into his shoulder, "I just want to graduate, and spend the summer with you"

"Our last summer together" He muttered, looking over her shoulder sadly.

"Our first of many" She corrected, "We'll make this work, right?"

"Yeah, of course" He whispered, "I love you, you know that?"

"Of course I do" She replied, "I love you too."

* * *

Graduation day arrived much too soon, and not long after they had thrown their caps into the air, Puck and Quinn were escaping town to spend a few weeks alone at his grandmother's old cabin.

"So remind me about this place again" Quinn said, her feet up on the dashboard of his truck as her toenails dried, in only a pair of tiny cotton shorts, a spaghetti strap tank top, hair in a messy bun and aviators on, she practically a beer commercial.

"Nana Connie brought the place when they moved to Lima, when she died, we couldn't sell it, cause it's in the middle of fuckin' nowhere and looks run down to shit on the outside, but its perfect for holidays, we rent it out most of the year, but we got a cancellation" Puck explained again, "I hope you didn't bother with clothes by the way, because FYI your not getting dressed if I can help it"

"Is that so Puckerman?" She asked mockingly, "Well FYI, I expect you to be shirtless the whole time then"

"Deal" He smirked, watching the road in front of him.

* * *

"Your so dead Puckerman" Quinn squealed, yet again Puck had interrupted her attempt at sunbathing, this time by slinging her over his shoulder and throwing her into the lake. His Nana Connie's cabin was the most beautiful place in the world, she had decided, sure the cabin itself was old, and unimpressive from the outside, but it had been kept in good condition and the kitchen and bathroom were new, it was surrounded by wild flowers and a beautiful lake. Secretly she was imagining herself being married here one day, and bringing their children to play in the lake during the hot summer vacation months.

"I've never understood chicks and laying in the sun all day" Puck said as he dodged her lunging at him, "Don't you get bored laying there"

"I was reading" She exclaimed, grabbing hold of his bicep, "It's relaxing."

She pushed him backwards into the water, holding him under for a few seconds before she released him. He came to the surface quickly, grabbing Quinn in a bear hug and grinning at her, she couldn't resist leaning down to kiss him, "If this is punishment you'll never get me to behave Fabray" He quipped.

"I'll live" She said dismissively, kissing him again. "Promise me we'll spend every summer here?"

"Q" He said warningly.

"Promise" She insisted.

"I won't make promises I don't know if I'll be able to keep" He reminded her, "I don't know where I'll be this time next year" She pouted at him, "Q, you know that if you was up to me, we'd spend every summer here"

"For the rest of our lives?" She questioned.

"Yes Q" He sighed, "For the rest of our lives. What about this instead, we'll be back here every chance we get, this place will be ours"

"Okay promise" She agreed.

"I promise crazy girl" He said, kissing her, "You didn't blush that time"

"Maybe I got used to your sex-addled nickname" She said, pushing him away and swimming towards the shore.

"Where the hell are you going?" He asked, dragging her back by grabbing her ankle.

"I was reading" She exclaimed, "It was just at the good bit"

* * *

They spent the rest of their summer together, with the New Directions and their families. But before they knew it Puck, and surprisingly Finn as well, had to leave for Basic Training.

"You'll call me as soon as possible?" Quinn questioned again as they stood at the bus terminal.

"Yes Q" He said.

"And you have my address in New Haven written down where you won't lose it" He nodded, "And you'll miss me and love me forever?"

"Of course I will" He said, kissing her passionately, "Crazy girl"

"NOAH!" Hannah complained, "I'm trying to say goodbye to you as well"

"Sorry Han" Puck said, twisting in Quinn's arms to face his little sister, "I'm gonna miss you two squirt"

"Me too" Hannah agreed, "But we have the computer, and you can call me and I'm going to write everyday"

"Me too Han" Puck agreed, leaning down to kiss his sister's forehead, "Be good for Mum"

"Oh Noah" His Mum muttered as he turned to her, "I'm so proud of you"

"Thanks Ma" He said, kissing his mother's forehead as well, "I'm gonna miss you"

"You be safe" She warned him. "Don't do anything stupid, try to be responsible, don't talk back or you'll get in trouble, try to go to Temple at least once this year, and do your best okay?"

"Yeah Ma, I will" He said before turning back to Quinn, who was sobbing in his arms, "Hey calm down" He whispered, "Hey"

"Please don't leave me" She whispered, "Please stay with me. I don't want you to go"

"Quinn, we talked about this remember?" He whispered to her, "Your going to Yale, everything's going to work out, we'll be back together before you even know it"

"Tell me what to do?" She whispered as he wiped her tears away with the pad of his thumbs.

"Your gonna go home, get your stuff and get your perfect ass on that train with Rachel" He told her, "You get down to Yale and you blow them away, I need you Q, okay?" He asked, "I need you to be okay, I need to go to Yale and be amazing, and I need you to keep everything going here while I'm gone, remember, I need to look after my Mum and Han for me, and keep everything going for us back here, then as soon as possible it'll be just you and me at the cabin again okay?"

"Okay" She sobbed, allowing herself to be pulled into a tight hug and a hard, insistent goodbye kiss and some final parting words. As Puck was called away to the departing bus, she collapsed into Moira's arms as the older woman sobbed as well. "Everything's going to be okay" she repeated.

"Quinn, can we come and visit you at Yale?" Hannah asked suddenly, "Can we?"

"You're always welcome to come and visit me anywhere Hannah" Quinn said, kneeling down to eye-level with the younger girl, "I know your brother and I aren't married yet, and our relationship is a bit confusing to you, but I consider you my sister, and you can always visit me, or call me anytime about anything you need, or Skype with me, or send me letters, okay?"

"Thanks Quinn" Hannah said, "I've never had a sister before"

"And you" Quinn said, standing you to address Moira, "I know we didn't get off to the most amazing start in the world, but I love your son more than life itself, and I hope you'll accept me into your family"

"Of course Quinn" Moira said, "You'll always be a second daughter to me"

"But seriously, you can't expect me to stop eating bacon, because its just not going to happen" Quinn joked.

* * *

Quinn seriously couldn't believe she'd only been at Yale for three months; time had dragged by since Puck had left and the scene at the bus terminal seemed like a life time ago. They had been exchanging letters for two months and he was now half way through his training. Whenever she was at home she made sure to be logged onto Facebook, messenger and Skype so that she could be contacted. So far she had spoken to Hannah for at least a few minutes every day, Moira every few days, her mother a couple of times a week and the New Directions as often as possible. However her communication with Puck had been restricted to letters only.

When the dial tone of her Skype account rang that day, she accept the call without even checking who it was, and almost fell backwards off her chair when his face popped up on screen.

"You okay Q?" Puck asked as she regained her equilibrium.

"You have no idea how much I needed to hear your voice" She exclaimed as tears sprang to her eyes, "How are you? Where are you? What are you doing? Are you enjoying it?..."

She was on a roll with questions when he cut her off, "Q, slow your roll crazy girl" He exclaimed, "I'm fine, we're still doing basic training, we just finished for the day, and cause we're half way through we finally get internet privileges, what are you doing?"

"In between missing you, trying to keep up with everything going on in Lima and school work and did I mention missing you?" He chuckled, "When do I get to see you again?"

"Not until graduation from Basic, sorry baby" He told her, "I got a letter from my sister yesterday, I really appreciate you being there for her Quinn"

"I know it sounds crazy but I really need to here from her everyday, even when she's busy and she calls me later, I find myself waiting to speak to her" She told him, "She's my little lifeline to Lima, and she's the only one apart from Rachel that gets how bad it is to miss you all the time"

"Have you been talking to Rachel much?" He asks, glancing behind him to where Finn is seated at another computer.

"We've alternating weekends between our places, one weekend in New Haven and one in New York, your going to call me crazy but she's kind of my best friend, apart from you" She explains, "I need someone who gets what its been like"

"As long as your happy Q" He smiles, "I have to go in a minute but before I do, I need to tell you I love you, okay?"

"I love you too babe" She tells him, "And we'll see each other soon?"

"And you need to eat more, you look skinny" He tells her, "I will stick Berry and Ma on your ass if I have to, got it?"

"Okay" She concedes, because honestly she hasn't been looking after herself that well lately.

"You take care of yourself baby" He tells her, "I'll see you soon."

* * *

She attends his graduation with Rachel, Hannah, Moira, Burt and Carol, spending the whole time completely frustrated that she has to wait until the ceremony is over before they can see him. He graduates at the top of his class, with Finn only two spots behind him, which means he got first preference of career paths moving forward and choice explosives ordinance school with the ultimate goal of going to Ranger School after that. She's not exactly sure how it all works, and honestly he simplifies it for her a lot of the time, but she does know that she's as insanely proud of him as she is insanely in love with him.

When he approaches them after the ceremony, she breaks away from the group and runs into his arms with the biggest possible grin on her face.

"I love you" She whispers to him

"I love you too, crazy girl" He replies before Hannah crashes into his side.

"I missed you" Hannah exclaims.

"I missed you girls too" Puck tells them both as his Mum stands beside Quinn.

"Who'd have thought a knuckle-head like you would ever graduate the top of his class in anything?" Quinn joked as she clung to her boyfriend.

"Sometimes I wondered" Moira said, "When I resigned myself to the fact his college fund would become bail money"

"Hey" Puck exclaimed, "I've been gone for six months, your supposed to be nice to me"

"Well we only get you back over Christmas so we have to get the teasing you of the way early" Quinn explains, "Plus girls are always mean to the ones they love"

"Then you've loved a lotta people Fabray" He quipped, only to earn himself a smack in the guts from all three women.

* * *

"So that's how much you missed me Fabray?" Puck asked when they were laying in bed that night.

"Maybe a little more" Quinn said as she leaned in for another kiss, "I don't know if I can let you leave again."

"It'll get better I promise" He tells her, "And look what I get to come home to" he jokes, and by that he means Quinn throwing herself under him the second they got into his bedroom in a lingerie set that would make the devil herself blush.

"God, I missed you" She whispered again as she tucked herself into his side.

* * *

Before they had time to breath normally again, Puck was being shipped off to the next round of schooling and the newest challenges. While Quinn had to return to Yale, this time knowing that her boyfriend was off somewhere playing with explosives, and not surprisingly that knowledge did not sit well with her.

Much like the first semester, six months passed in a seemingly near-ending blur of assignments, trips to and from New York with Rachel, frequent video calls back to Lima and to Puck, as well as endless hours of missing the other half of her heart. His second graduation ceremony was much like the first, except this time the goal was closer in his mind, he was headed to Ranger School.

"God I love you Puckerman" Quinn exclaimed the second she laid hands on her boyfriend for the first time in six months.

"I love you too baby" He replied, "And I missed you"

"But you missed me more right Quinn?" Finn butted in.

"Absolutely" Quinn said rolling her eyes, "Sorry Puckerman"

"That's okay, cause me and Berry" Puck ignored Rachel's squeal when he pulled her into his side, "we're just a couple of good looking Jews, you know, couldn't resist her for too much longer"

"What the hell is going on?" Burt asked as the foursome burst into a fit of laughter, "I will never understand kids these days."

* * *

That night they were supposed to return to Lima once again, if Quinn didn't take Puck on a detour.

"I missed this place" Quinn said as she and Puck reclined on the old porch swing at the cabin. "And being here, alone, just you and me, together, no interruptions."

"Yeah" He agreed, "I forgot what it's like here, quiet, just us"

"It's perfect" She decided, "50 years from now, when your done with the military, and I retire from whatever I decide to do, our kids will be all grown up, I want to live out here"

"Kids? Fabray" He asked, "How much of our life have you planned out already?"

"Most of it" She admitted, "Feel free to propose at any time, I'll wait"

"Good to know" He muttered, "Crazy girl."

* * *

Finn and Rachel's wedding comes quicker than anybody can imagine. Anyone who has ever been unfortunate enough to bear witness to Rachel's theatrics is pleasantly shocked at how calm and low-key Rachel and her wedding end up being.

The ceremony is simple and short, with self-written vows (Finn had help from his Mum and Quinn, but don't tell Rachel that) and a rough combination of their two religions. A reception is held at the Hudson-Hummel house with only a few select family members and the motley assortment of New Directions members.

Quinn spends the majority of the reception rotating between gossiping with her girls and cuddling up to Puck. When they eventually get back to their hotel room it's a mess of flying clothes and the typical drunken lack of coordination.

"God" Quinn grasps as Puck rolls off her. "This is why we should live closer together"

"Q" Puck says warningly, "One night? Just one night of you not bitching about how we never spend time together, please?"

"What it pisses me off okay?" She says, agitated. "Do you even realize that half my Yale friends don't think that you actually exist?"

"And that's my fault?" He asks.

"Well, you're the one who wanted to join the army" She says bitterly, throwing on Puck's dress shirt as she leaves for the bathroom, when she locks the door behind her, she turns on the fan and the water so he can't hear her sobs. But he does hear, and it breaks his heart just a little bit more.

* * *

Ranger School was tough, harder physically and mentally than anything Puck had ever done before in his life. But the day in graduated was the proudest moment in his life, until Quinn ran to him, with tears streaming down her face, sobbing into his uniform, then he realized that the hard road was not over yet.

"Baby?" He asked, "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Noah" She sobbed, he knew he was in trouble just by the use of his first name. "I love you"

"I love you too baby" He replied, kissing the crown of her head, "We'll talk about everything later, I promise"

He managed to greet the rest of his friends and family with Quinn still sobbing into the front of his uniform, so far no one had made mention of the fact that she seemed attached to his chest.

"Noah, how long will you be home this time?" Hannah asked, rocking on her heels like when she was asking for a big favour.

"A few weeks" He told her as he glanced down at Quinn in his arms again.

"Well, I have my dancing competition next week" Hannah said shyly, "And I was hoping that you could come and see me"

"I don't know about that" Puck replied jokingly, "There's no point watching you if you suck, I don't wanna waste my time"

"NOAH" Hannah screeched, "We don't suck, we're gonna win"

"Well I guess I can spare a few hours for you then" Puck said seriously, grinning when he heard Quinn giggle, "As long as Lady Quinn allows it of course"

"Whipped" Hannah coughed.

"Where did you learn that?" Finn asked before Puck could.

"It's what the boys at school do when Danny Green holds hands with Alana Morris, because there boyfriend and girlfriend" Hannah said, "I don't have a boyfriend, but I got asked out by this one boy….."

"No" Puck said suddenly, "You're 10, that's way too young to go on a date, you're not going."

"I'm 12" Hannah said obnoxiously, "And I said no anyway, he's creepy."

"All boys that aren't related to you are creepy Han" Puck said, "You remember that for at least another 12 years."

"Good luck with that theory" Hannah said, returning her attention to her iPhone.

* * *

It wasn't until much later that night that Puck finally got some alone time with Quinn, he found her on the back porch of his mother's house as the welcome home party for him and Finn raged on inside. He placed his beer on the banister and sat down, tugging her into his side as close to him as possible.

"Now, are you ready to talk about what today was all about?" He asked her, placing two fingers under her chin and stroking her cheek lightly with his thumb.

"I can't do this anymore" She whispered as fresh tears sprang to her eyes.

"Do what Quinn?" He asked, feeling that rapid acceleration of his heart and the dread compiling in his chest, he wondered if she'd found someone else while she had been at Yale, if someone else had stolen her heart from him, someone who could be with her on a daily basis, whose schedule was not controlled by someone else and whose future was a lot more certain that his.

"I can't be away from you anymore" She told him, as a temporary sense of relief washed over him, "I'm dropping out of Yale, I want to move onto the base with you full time, I can't do long distance anymore."

"No" He said simply, "Quinn, Yale is your dream, I won't let you give up on that"

"It's not my dream anymore Noah" She told him, "I'm miserable there without you."

"It'll be better this time, I'll have most weekends off and its only a two and a half hour train ride between Yale and the base" He told her, "I'll come to visit you as often as possible and you can come to visit me as well, when ever you like. But I'm not letting you drop out of Yale, that's not happening."

"I'm not strong enough for this anymore" She sobbed, "It hurts too much without you around"

"Quinn, this is going to be easier this time" He reminded her, "My job is more stable now, I shouldn't have to leave this base for a long time, and yes, one day you'll come and live with me there, and you can be the perfect little housewife we both want you to be, but not until you've finished your degree"

"I just want to be with you more," She whispered, before climbing into his lap and kissing him passionately.

* * *

The first weekend back at Yale, Quinn got on the 7am train to see Puck, which ran through New York and collected Rachel as well.

Flopping into her seat, Rachel took a deep breath before pulling out a folder full of papers. "What's all this?" Quinn asked, eying the large pile of paper.

"It's my first ever Broadway contract" Rachel said dryly. She had finally landed her first lead role after a year of auditioning as Laurie in Oklahoma, thanks to a contact she made at NYADA.

"You don't sound so enthused about that" Quinn said, humor seeping out in her tone.

"It's just so long and boring" Rachel explained, "And because I don't have a manager I have to go through it myself, I'd much rather go through the wedding planning stuff again."

"Well, give me a look at it, I'm doing contracts in my business class anyway" Quinn said, taking the large document from Rachel, "It'll be good for me to see a real contract."

"Have fun" Rachel commented dryly.

An hour later Quinn spoke again, "Rachel there are some serious flaws in this contract" she said, "For one, they'll compensate you for any minor injuries, but not serious ones, I mean what if you blow out your knee and can never dance again? And they want to bind you to a non-competition period of three years, but the play is only set to run for two, which means you'll be out of work for at least a year after the play finishes."

And that's how Quinn became Rachel's manager. Turns out Quinn was not only great at spotting flaws in contracts, but a ruthless negotiator and great at building and developing contacts as well as building Rachel's profile as an up and coming actress.

* * *

Quinn gets a taxi to Puck's apartment and lets herself in with the key he gave her, she can't here any noise so she assumes that he's still asleep. Quietly she wanders through the small apartment, which he still hasn't finished unpacking, and into the bedroom, where he boyfriend is asleep, face down, laying across the whole bed. Stripping to only her underwear, she slips in beside him, breathing in his comforting scent, letting herself fall back to sleep.

An hour later he wakes her up as he tries to slip out of bed, grabbing his wrist, she tries to pull him back to her.

"Come back here, I didn't come all this way to sleep alone" She whines, "Please"

"Some of us have to work for a living Fabray" He reminds her, "I told you I had afternoon training shifts this weekend."

"Well, do I at least get a kiss before you leave?" She asks sweetly.

"If you get into the shower with me you'll get a whole lot more than just a kiss" He promises, smacking her butt lightly.

* * *

When Puck leaves, Quinn busies herself by unpacking his apartment, starting in the kitchen and moving through the small place room by room. After she finishes that she throws on some laundry and cleans the bathroom and kitchen before sitting down to do her homework at the kitchen table. By the time that he gets home, she has washed and ironed all his clothes, finished her homework, has a weeks worth of meals packed and in the freezer and has dinner on the table. The second he walks in the front door, he's stumped by how clean the place is.

"What the hell did you do?" He asks, pulling her into his chest and gently brushing the hair from her face.

"So maybe I wanted my man to come to a clean apartment" She tells him, "And I kind of like this domestic thing"

"Wouldn't have picked you for a housewife Fabray" He quipps.

"I know, the oppression of women to the subservience of men's sexual desires, blah, blah, blah" She says mockingly, "But I don't mind, I enjoy it, and it gives me peace of mind knowing the place is clean and theirs food in the freezer."

"You are the best" He tells her, "You know that right?"

"I know" She shrugs, walking back into the kitchen and leaving him dumbfounded.

* * *

The next weekend Puck takes the train to Yale to visit Quinn for the first time, she takes him on a tour of the campus and all the places she likes to visit in her free time. Finally she takes him to a small café and coffeehouse where she spends the majority of her time.

"So, are you glad you came back yet?" He asks after their coffee arrived.

"A little" She admits, "But you would have loved having me around all the time!"

"Of course I would have" He tells her, "But you would have hated it"

"No I wouldn't" She rebuts, "After living with you, Yale is only my second choice"

"Trust me, if you had have left Yale, after a year or two, you'd be busting my balls about letting you leave" He tells her.

"Nup" She says childishly, shaking her head.

* * *

Monica and Judy decide to have a girls shopping weekend in New York and demand Quinn's presence, and to say that she's not thrilled about missing her weekend with Puck is an understatement.

"Quinn, this would look perfect on you" Judy says, holding up an evening dress.

"Mum, I don't need another fancy dress, I have a few I still haven't worn" Quinn says, checking her phone for the millionth time. "And besides it's far too fancy for anything I would go to"

"You know what it would be perfect for?" Monica says slyly, "An engagement party!"

"Whose?" Quinn says sarcastically, their mothers have all the subtly of a brick wall.

"Well we just assumed that after Finn and Rachel got married that you and Noah would follow suit" Judy says, "You do plan on getting married? Don't you?"

"Yes of course we do" Quinn says, leading them out of the shop with a final longing glance at the wedding dress in the window, "We have talked about it, a couple a times, even before the wedding but I think Puck wants to wait until I finish Yale to propose."

"Well what about if he gets deployed?" Monica asks, "Wouldn't you want to be married first?"

"We haven't really talked about it" Quinn admits.

"Well I'm sure he has a plan" Judy says.

* * *

Puck drops his bag inside the door of the apartment and instantly recognizes that it's a hell of a lot cleaner than when he left, "Quinn?" He calls.

"Guess again" His mother calls out, when he walks into the kitchen and finds his mother, Carole Hudson and Judy Fabray sitting at the table with a little blue box open in front of them.

"Why were you snooping through my stuff?" He asks, grabbing the ring off the table. "And what are you doing here? And where is Quinn?"

"Oh, Rachel distracted her after we told her we'd found the ring" Carole says dismissively, "She'll be back in an hour or two"

"How the hell did you find it?" Puck asks, the damn thing was hidden inside the false bottom of his guitar case.

"I'm Jewish" His mother deadpans, "So when are you planning on proposing?"

"When she finishes school" Puck says.

"Well why wait?" Judy asks, "We know she's keen to get married, we asked her about it two weeks ago"

"Because it's hard enough convincing her to say in school as is, I'm not fueling that fire by proposing to her" Puck explains, "And there's no way in hell she's dropping out of school."

"Then why buy a ring?" Carole asks, "She won't be out of Yale for at least a year"

"I found it when Finn was looking for a birthday present for Rachel, it's perfect for Quinn and I already had the money in savings so I brought it" Puck explains.

"Well, it is perfect for Quinn" Judy concedes, "She'll love it so much"

"She can't find out about this" Puck says warningly.

"Of course not" The women agree.

* * *

You'd think being in the army you'd expect a deployment to happen sooner or later, but when the folder lands in your lap that gives you a month before you ship out for a year or more, the shock is incomprehensible.

The whole train ride from the base into Rachel's apartment in New York, Puck sat staring out the window trying to figure out a way to break this news to Quinn, with a certain box burning a hole in his pocket. When he and Finn finally reached their destination, both were instantly pounced upon by their awaiting girlfriend and wife respectively.

With a chaste kiss, Puck carried Quinn to Rachel's guest bedroom and deposited her on the bed, choosing to sit on the opposite side from her. "We have to talk about something" He says seriously.

"How about kissing first, talking later?" She asks, slinking across the bed towards him.

"Quinn" He says warningly, stopping her from unbuttoning his shirt, "Seriously."

"Okay, kiss later" She concedes, "What?"

"I….um, I got new orders today" He says, "We ship out to Afghanistan in a month"

"No" She whispers, "Please be joking"

"I'm sorry Quinn" He replies, pulling her in for a tight hug, "I don't want to leave you either, but it's the job, it's what I have to do, what I've been training for all this time"

"How long?" She asks, wiping away tears only for them to be replaced with new ones just as fast.

"A year, maybe more" He tells her quietly.

"A year?" She asks, "I'm not going to see you for a year?"

"Quinn, it's not all we need to talk about" He says, "You know how much I love you right?"

"Of course, I love you the same" She says, wiping away the last of her tears.

"It's just, I don't want to leave a girlfriend behind while I'm deployed" He says, "I…."

But she cuts him off with a rant about how they can't break up just because he's being deployed and how they'll overcome all the challenges that life and the army throws their way. At first it's amusing because it's exactly the opposite of what he intended, then it's annoying because she actually believes he would do something like this, and then its amusing again because she throws in a mention of all the great sex they can't have for the next year, but then it goes back to frustrating. Before he knows it, its been two hours and Quinn is still ranting away at full speed, and he's not even that sure that she's taken a breath.

"Quinn" He yells, "Shut up"

She's instantly silent, and a little embarrassed that she has been ranting all this time.

"Will you let me finish my frigging sentence?" He asks rhetorically, "I don't want to leave behind a girlfriend when I'm deployed, because if I have to leave anyone behind, I want to leave my wife."

"Oh" She mutters.

"There's a million reasons why it's unfair to you why we shouldn't be married but there's another two million why it's the best thing for us to do, but the main reason is because I'm about to go and do the most dangerous, scariest, most exciting, most rewarding thing I've ever done in my entire life, and I want to tie myself to you in every way I possibly can first. And if anything happens to me, I need to know that I've protected you in everyway possible" He says, "So, Lucy Quinn Fabray, will you marry me" he asks, holding out that infamous little blue box.

All she can do is nod and wipe the tears from her cheeks. He leans forward to kiss her passionately, placing the ring on her finger as they kiss. "I think I ruined your proposal" she mutters.

"No, just made it a way better story for the grandkids" He replies, "You better call your mum, she's been waiting on your call for" he glances at the clock, "Oh, maybe five or so hours."

"Oh God" She mutters, placing on hand on his chest to examine her ring as she blindly gropes behind them for her phone. "She's probably going to storm the city."

"Well, I didn't plan on this taking two hours" He says cheekily as Quinn dials her mothers number and places it on speaker phone.

"Hello" Judy Fabray answers, "Quinny?"

"Hey Mum, where are you?" Quinn asks, snuggling into Puck's chest as she continues the staring match with her engagement ring.

"Monica and I are doing some last minute research before our plane departs in a few hours" She'd almost forgot they were arriving tomorrow, "You're on speaker."

"So are you, Puck's with me as well" Quinn replies.

"Hey Mum, hey Judy" Puck says casually.

"What are you two up too?" Monica asks.

"We have news" Quinn says excitedly, "Puck proposed, we're getting married."

If the screaming is any indication of excitement there wasn't a barometer powerful enough to indicate their current state. "What took so long, we were expecting this call hours ago" Judy asks a minute later.

"Well, someone may have interrupted me" Puck says, "_and ranted for two hours"_

"Well someone may have phrased the first part of his proposal to sound like a break-up speech" Quinn says sarcastically.

"Oh goodness" Monica laughs, "Never a dull moment with you two"

"So when is the wedding?" Judy asks.

"Soon" Quinn replies instantly, "In the next month."

* * *

After Puck and Quinn get off the phone with their mothers and consummate their engagement, they decide to go and see if Finn and Rachel are ready for dinner yet. Quinn hides her hand by slipping it into the back pocket of Puck's jeans, keeping him close to her side and hiding her ring at the same time, its really a win-win situation for her.

"I thought groping was inappropriate in public" Puck jokes when he feels her hand against his butt.

"It's a great arse babe" She jokes watching the small smirk on his face as they enter the living room and see the Hudsons watching a movie on the couch.

"Oh good, I was about to come and get you two" Rachel exclaims, "Pizza should be here any minute, we thought we should order in tonight seen as we're having a fancy dinner tomorrow"

"And I totally want to stock up on NYC pizza while I can" Finn adds, to which Rachel rolls her eyes.

Puck sits down in Rachel's old arm chair and pulls Quinn on top of him, accidentally not giving Quinn enough time to re-hide her left hand. "OH MY GOD" Rachel exclaims, getting a flash of Quinn's diamond laden hand, "YOU GOT ENGAGED!"

"Seriously bro!" Finn exclaims, "Where you going to tell us?"

Quinn leans back into Puck's protective embrace resting her hands on his so that the Hudsons can see her ring. "That's not even the best bit" Puck jokes, "You should have heard someones _TWO HOUR_ rant in the middle of my kickass proposal speech"

"Oh" Rachel mutters as Finn laughs.

"I warned you she was trouble dude, Junior Year, I told you" Finn jokes, causing Quinn to throw a cushion that hits him in the face.

"I am not trouble" Quinn grumbles, "I'm unique"

"Trouble" Finn, Rachel and Puck chorus.

* * *

The New Directions (plus Mr. Schue, Miss Pillsbury, Burt and Carol Hummel, Judy Fabray and Moira & Hannah Puckerman) bound into New York the next day with enough energy to take over the world in a single afternoon. Rachel plays tour guide on a shopping spree for the day before they all reconvene at a restaurant for dinner that evening. Puck silences them after dinner so that he and Quinn can make an announcement.

"I suck at speeches so I'm going just say this as simple as I can" Puck says, "Quinn and I are engaged, we're getting married tomorrow and we want you all to be there."

There's a state of general shock before the group can stand and congratulate the happy couple. Everyone begins to move around the room more freely then, thank God they rented out the back room. After a few minutes Quinn quietly pulls Mr. Schue aside,

"So I know this is going to sound really weird, but I haven't had a Dad in my life since I got kicked out of home, and since then you've been the one guiding me and supporting me and doing everything I wish I had a Dad around to do" Quinn told him, "So I guess what I'm asking is, would you be the one to walk me down the isle tomorrow?"

"Quinn" Mr. Schue says emotionally, "I would be honored to do that for you, I am so proud of the woman you've become."

"Thank you Mr. Schue" Quinn replied, "You have no idea how much this means to me."

* * *

The girls end up going back to the hotel where everyone is staying for a girls night while the boys go out drinking before going back to crash at Finn and Rachel's apartment. Judy gets everyone's attention as she sits her daughter down on the bed.

"Oh my sweet baby girl, when you were a little girl, I was imagined that we've have months to plan out your dream wedding. But when you met Noah, I just knew you two didn't do anything slowly" Judy gushes, and after her last statement Quinn can practically hear the dirty thoughts flying through Santana's head, although she's been drinking, so Santana may be saying them outloud, "Do you remember the weekend we went shopping in Brooklyn?"

"You were so upset because we'd pulled you away from Noah for a few hours" Moira adds, "And because we had the nerve to ask about whether you and Noah where going to get married soon."

"I remember" Quinn says.

"Do you remember the dress you drooled over, the one in the window?" Judy asks, and Quinn nods, "Well the next day, Moira and I went back there and we brought in for you" At that point Moira brought the dress out of the wardrobe and laid it on the bed next to Quinn.

"We had a feeling that you'd be needing a dress way too fast to do any shopping around" Moira tells her, "And this one is the perfect dress for you anyway."

"It's beautiful" Tina says.

"Puckerman is going to flip a shit" Santana adds.

The group agrees that the dress is perfect before Moira hangs it on the curtain rod so that it doesn't get crinkled or ruined before the big day.

"I think we should all go around the group and tell an embarrassing story about Quinn and Puck like we did at my bridal shower" Rachel announces, to which everyone agrees. "I remember the day that Quinn was crying in the bathroom because she was so convinced that Puck thought she was hideous, then he barged in and kicked us all out of the ladies room."

"I remember when I caught them coming out of the bathroom and Noah tried to tell me that they were cleaning" Hannah laughs, "You should have seen his face when I said Mum's already told me about the birds and the bees Noah, I'm not stupid, I know what you two were doing."

"I remember the day that Q calls me at three am screeching, HE LOVES ME, TANA HE TOLD ME HE LOVES ME" Santana said, "She was too busy screeching to notice I hung up on her."

"My favorite is the day when they were too busy playing tonsil hockey to realize that the teacher had walked into the class room and tried to start the lesson." Kurt says.

"I liked the time when Quinn was talking to that dumb boy from the hockey team" Britney said, "And Puck poured a slushy on his head, and said that's my girl your flirting with moron."

"I just loved the day that Quinn dyed his Mohawk" Mercedes said, "And props Mrs P. for being on it, that was legendary." Moira raised her glass in Mercedes' direction in acknowledgment.

"I will not forget when they got caught sneaking back in at Nationals senior year" Tina says, "Quinn had this huge hickey on her neck, it was so obvious, and she stuttered worse than I ever did trying to deny it."

"I won't forget the day that we found the engagement ring hidden in Noah's guitar case" Judy says, "He was so embarrassed that we knew we already had a ring and was waiting until she finished school to propose."

"It was better than when I came home to find them on the couch, trying to swallow each other whole" Moira says, "And this one" she points at Quinn, "Has her dress pulled down to around her hips, and then Noah looks at me and says, I have to memorize what she looks like before I go back to work."

"I just loved when he came to pick her up for their first date" Judy says, "They were both so nervous, Quinn had tried on everything she owned, and poor Noah, he looked petrified when I opened the door and told him she wasn't ready yet."

"What's your favorite memory of you and Noah, Quinn?" Hannah asks.

"Um" Quinn replies, "I don't know there's so many, I guess either when we disappeared for a weekend after ordinance school or the day he asked me to prom."

"That's the clean version right?" Santana asks. Quinn blushes furiously as the others laugh at her discomfort.

"Well, at least we can spare you the embarrassment of the pre-wedding talk my mother gave me" Judy told Quinn, "I remember, the morning of my wedding, she sat me down and explained what Russell would expect of me that night."

"Oh, that talk was awful" Carole agreed, "And I those days there was no Cosmo, and you didn't talk about any of it with your friends."

"Will Noah be signing the dreaded agreement tomorrow morning?" Moira asks, and Quinn nods.

"What agreement?" Santana asks.

"It's a Jewish custom" Rachel says, "A husband signs an agreement that promises to have sexual relations with his wife, among other things, the Rabbi will read it out during the ceremony."

"Puck is going to sign a contract promising to have sex?" Santana asks through her laugher.

"It's a tradition" Moira says, "Dating back to a time where sex was used for procreational purposes only, essentially a man is promising to try and give his wife children."

"But I think we can wait awhile on the children" Judy says, "I'm way to young to become a grandmother"

"You'd have to change your whole wardrobe" Carole says jokingly.

"Dye my hair grey" Moira adds.

"Join a gardening club" Judy laughs.

"But imagine how cute little Puckabray babies would be" Britney exclaims, "Imagine if they had a Mohawk!"

"Oh my God, Puck's kids would totally be born with a Mohawk" Kurt exclaims.

"With Quinn's attitude and Puck's smirk" Rachel says, "They'd be the cutest babies ever!"

"No, No, No, No, NO!" Quinn exclaims, "Let me be very clear, dealing with Puck is bad enough, I am not ready to deal with his offspring anytime soon."

"No Mohawked babies?" Mercedes asks, Quinn throws herself back onto the bed with a scream, "But they'd be so cute."

* * *

The ceremony passes far too quickly and soon Quinn and Puck are escorted into a private room to spend twenty minutes alone before the reception begins.

"Hey Mrs. Puckerman" Puck whispers as he pulls Quinn onto his lap, "You look amazing in that dress."

"Our Mum's brought it for me the last time they were in New York" Quinn says happily, "And if you call me Mrs. Puckerman one more time this room won't be merely symbolic."

"What about wedding's gets you so horny?" Puck smirks, "Or is it having my last name? Now that you officially belong to me."

"Maybe I just like the idea of forever" Quinn said, "Provided you come back home to me."

"I'll always come back to you Mrs. Puckerman" He whispered in her ear, "Always."

"Good" She replies, "You are gonna be in so much trouble by the time tonight is over."

"We've talked about your preferred methods of punishment wifey" He smirked, "You'll never get me to behave."

"Maybe I don't want you to behave" She smirked back, "Husband."

He groaned before attacking her lips with his, weaving a hand through her hair to keep her face attached to his. Twenty minutes was over awfully quickly if you ask him.

* * *

Quinn fists her husbands shirt as she rests her head against his chest, looking around her she can she all their family and friends dancing together, the slow music provides the opportunity for her to just breathe in his scent and enjoy being in his arms. She truly doesn't know how she is going to survive a whole year without these moments, his touches, the small caresses, the warmth of his body, his scent, the sound of his breathing next to her at night, it's all going to be torn away from her in a matter of days.

"Baby" Puck whispers, "You're thinking too hard."

"I don't want you to go" She whispers, looking up into his beautiful, concerned eyes. "I won't be able to survive a whole year without you"

"Yes you will" He whispers reassuringly, "You can do anything"

"You have too much faith in me"

"You've earned every bit of it" He whispers. "You're so strong Quinn, you don't even realize it"

* * *

Their honeymoon passes in a blur of white hotel sheets and clothes flying across their hotel suite. Before either of them realize how much time has passed, they are standing at JFK Airport, waiting for Puck's flight to be called. Staring up into her husband's loving eyes, Quinn can't believe that this is the last time they will be together in the next year.

"I love you" She repeats for the thousandth time since they got here, she needs to tell him as many times as she can, because she doesn't know how many opportunities she'll get in the next year to tell him.

"I know baby" He whispers, stroking her glistening cheeks, "I love you too"

"You're coming back to me" She states, "You have to come back to me Noah"

"I promise you I will Quinn" He repeats for the millionth time in the past few days. "I'll be home before you know it."

"You better be Puckerman, or I swear to God….." She says threateningly.

"Okay, Puckerman" He says, pulling her closer to him, "I love you"

The flight gets called exactly at that moment, they both take a deep breath before touching their foreheads together, "Be safe, come back to me and I love you" Quinn whispers.

"I will, I will and I love you too" He replies, kissing her with as much passion as he can find before following his squad down the gate. She watches as he disappears out of sight, then allows her shaking legs to collapse from under her as the first sob rips through her entire body.

A strong arm grabs her and pulls her back to her feet, "Smile, they'll get one last look in a second, trust me, it'll make it worse if he sees tears" An unfamiliar voice whispers. "I'm Jane Parker, Joshua's wife, our husbands are in the same unit." Just as she predicted, she sees the line of soldiers stepping onto the aircraft, she catches Puck's eye for a second before he steps on too.

"Oh God" Quinn whispers as her tears begin to fall more freely and more sobs come.

"It'll be okay sweetie" Jane tells Quinn, sitting her down at a nearby bench, "The first time's always the hardest, but it'll get easier."

"I can't even function without him for a week, how am I supposed to survive a whole year." Quinn whispers, "We only just got married."

"Everything will be okay" Jane says reassuringly, "Trust me, I'm an old hand at this and I didn't think I would be able to cope at first, but you'll find a way to get by until he gets home."

"Where's Rachel?" Quinn asks, "I need Rachel"

"Specialist Hudson's wife?" Jane asks, "She's around here somewhere."

"Rachel" Quinn yells, standing up and searching the room, until she spots her in the other corner. Rachel looks up when she hears Quinn yell out for her and meets her in the middle of the room in a bone-crushing hug. "I can't believe we won't see them for a year."

"Quinn, I've never even been apart from Finn for a week since we got married." Rachel sobs, "He's gone"

"They'll come back" Quinn whispers, "They have to come back."

"It's okay girls" Jane tells them, "You'll both be okay."

"I never thought I'd say this, but I really want to go back to Lima right now" Rachel says.

"I'll go with you" Quinn says, "I don't think I can stay here without him."

"That's a good idea girls, visiting family will make it easier for you right now" Jane says, "But if your back at the base, every Friday night, the girls and kids get together for a family night while the boys are away, here's my address, it's the same place every week, my number's there too, so send me a text if you can make it, and feel free to call me anytime if you need anything at all, we're all here for you"

"Thank-you" Quinn whispers, accepting Jane's details. Rachel and Quinn walk out of the airport arm in arm, only to return a few hours later, bags packed, and boarding a plane bound for Ohio.

* * *

For the first month that Puck is away, Quinn struggles to pull herself out of bed everyday. For the second she hides away in their bedroom watching movies and reading romance novels. By the third month she returns to Yale, robotically attending all her classes and doing her assignments. In the fourth month she lives for Friday night dinners with the other wives, they understand her in a way that her college friends don't and their strength and optimism gives her strength and optimism. During the fifth month she's started to live for their Skype calls, and the few moments she has when she can just stare at him. By the sixth month she finds a way to get back into her normal routine, being a college student Monday to Thursday and running back to the base Friday through Sunday to live as one of the army wives. In the seventh month she goes on what is in retrospect a completely insane health and fitness kick, for absolutely no reason at all, considering she is already fit and healthy. During month eight the final exams leave her with no time to do anything other than work, study and sleep. But the ninth month blows her out of the water completely.

In the movies, the phone call always comes in the middle of the night, the beautiful wife of the brave, handsome soldier, rolls over in her all too empty bed to groggily answer the telephone, unsuspecting of the horror on the other end of the line. The phone call Quinn receives is nothing like that.

"Is this Quinn Puckerman, wife of Specialist Noah Puckerman?" A man asks when she answers her phone half way through making herself a sandwich for lunch.

"This is she" Quinn answers, "To whom am I speaking?"

"This is General Andrew Miller, Mrs. Puckerman, I'm calling about your husband Noah, he's currently on active duty in Afghanistan" General Miller states, "Unfortunately I'm not calling with good news Mrs. Puckerman."

"Is my husband okay?" Quinn asks, sinking to the floor as quite tears roll down her cheeks. "Is he alive?"

"Your husband is very much alive Mrs. Puckerman, unfortunately he has sustained several injuries in an ambush late last night, he has required medical treatment in the field and in a hospital" General Miller tells her, "He has quite a few stiches and a bad concussion, but he'll make a full recovery."

"Is he coming home?" Quinn asks hopefully, she needs to see him herself before she believes that he is truly alright.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Puckerman, he will remain in Afghanistan with his unit to see out the rest of their commitment." He replies, "This call was primarily to inform you of a change in your husband's medical status."

"What about the rest of us unit?" Quinn asks, "What about Specialist Finn Hudson?"

"I'm afraid I can't give out those details ma'am" He replies.

"Please" She begs, "He's my husband's best friend, I'm extremely close to his wife, if anything's happened to him, I need to know, please."

She hears a sigh on the other end, "Specialist Hudson was the most severely injured, he's being flown home as we speak."

"But he'll be okay?" She asks, "He's going to recover?"

"His condition is not life threatening" He replies, "Mrs Puckerman, I really can't give you anymore details, I'm very sorry, but you should expect a call from your husband in the next 24 to 48 hours."

"Okay, thank-you General Miller" Quinn says before hanging up and calling Rachel. When it goes to voicemail she tries again, and again, and again, before she tries a different number.

"Quinn?" Jane Parker answers, "Is everything okay?"

"Jane, thank God your answering, I just got a call from a General about a change in Noah's medical status" Quinn says, "I can't get a hold of Rachel"

"Is Noah okay?" Jane asks, "Do you need anything?"

"No, he's going to be fine" Quinn replies, "But they're bringing Finn home, his injuries are the worst and I keep trying to call Rachel but she's not answering, I was hoping she was with you"

"I haven't heard anything from her, I called and left a message, but everyone is gathering here, hopefully the boys will start calling soon" Jane replies, "I'll go to Rachel and Finn's, you just get here as soon as you can okay?"

"I'll be on base in a few hours" Quinn replies. "I'll see you soon, bye."

* * *

Rachel was a mess by the time that Quinn got to Jane's house, then again, so was nearly every woman in the room.

"Quinn" Rachel whispered as Quinn sat down next to her friend, "Is Noah okay? They wouldn't tell me anything, I tried to find out, but they kept saying it was against the protocol."

"He's fine, a concussion and some stiches, I don't have the details yet" Quinn said, "What about Finn?"

"All they told me is that they were bringing him home" Rachel whispers, "They won't even tell me what happened to him."

"He'll be at the base hospital in a few hours" Jane tells Quinn, handing her a glass of water, "We'll know soon."

"He'll be okay Rachel" Quinn whispered, "They told me his injuries weren't life threatening."

Mobile phones started ringing in close succession, and each of the eight other women excused themselves to take the call more privately. Quinn's phone was the last to ring, she gripped Rachel's hand as she answered nervously.

"Noah?" She asked, "Is that you?"

"Would you be disappointed if it wasn't?" Puck asked.

"Yes, because I would have been denied the opportunity to tell you that you scared the scrap out of me" She replied, "You promised me no scary phone-calls!"

"I promised you no three am calls to tell you I was dead" He countered, hearing the sob on the other end, "I'm fine Quinn, my head hurts like a motherfucker and I've got a dozen stiches from shrapnel hitting my arms, but I'm okay."

"That doesn't terrify me any less Noah" Quinn replied, "What the hell happened, they're flying Finn home for God sakes, Rachel's scared out of her mind and so am I!"

"Hudson took a bullet through the armpit, and another one through the collarbone" Puck said, "He was conscious when we loaded him onto the medevac, he needs surgery and they wouldn't do it here, but he's okay, whining like a bitch, but he'll be fine."

"He got shot twice, I think he earned the right to complain" Quinn replies after whispering Puck's explanation to Rachel, "She's gone to call the Hudsons and her dads."

"Hey, I got shot today as well, difference is it hit my plate, thank God" He replies.

"What do you mean you got shot Noah?" Quinn replies, terrified out of her mind.

"Chill the fuck out Fabray" He replies calmly, "We walked into an ambush, the buildings to either side of us blew up before we raided them and shots started coming in from a third. We all took a hit of shrapnel and a bullet hit my chest plate before I could get cover, knocked me on my ass, but I'm fine."

"I really do not think you appreciate the fact that you got shot and almost blown up this morning" Quinn says angrily, "Do you not understand that?"

"Trust me Quinn, I get it, I've got a ripping headache and a nice big black mark on my chest to prove it" He replies, "But we all got out of there alive so it's not as bad as you think, trust me."

"Noah it's hard enough you being gone all the time, but to know that you nearly died today" She whispers, "I don't know if I can do this."

"Do what Quinn?" He asks, his voice is weak and scared, he's been expecting this for a while, for her to realize it's all too much and he's not worth it, for her to leave him.

"I don't know how much longer I can pretend that this is okay" Quinn says, "And I don't know how much longer I can wake up in the mornings and have you asleep next to me."

"Quinn it's just a few more months" He begs, "Please, when I get home we'll spend time together, we'll fix things, just please, a few more months."

"If you get home," Quinn corrected, "Because today it finally hit me that you may not come home."

"Quinn, don't say that" Puck pleads, "I'm coming home to you, I promise."

"You almost got blown up today and then you got shot" Quinn whispers, "Am I so wrong for being terrified?"

"Baby" He whispers, knowing he can't respond to that question with anything other than an out-right lie. Half truths and white lies are one thing, but he hates lying to her completely.

"I love you Noah" She says, "I want you to know that."

"I love you too Quinn." He replies. "I'll be home soon."

"I'll be waiting." She replies.

* * *

She lives in a state of absolute fear and worry for the next three months. Finn makes a recovery and gets sent home from the hospital, they decide not to send him back to see out the rest of his tour. It's a week before Puck comes home and yet she was still completely envious of Rachel, who already had her husband at home with her. When she sees a man in uniform approaching her front door, her first thought is too hide in the back of her closet somewhere and pretend that he's not there, until she realizes that his uniform is UPS issue.

"Package for Mrs Puckerman" The man states holding out the PDA for her to sign for it.

"Thank-you" Quinn replies absent-mindedly, shutting the door when he leaves, she never gets packages, unless she's ordered something online, which she hasn't done in months, so she wonders who would send her something. Tearing open the envelope a key and a photograph fall out. The photograph answers her question about the mystery sender, it is the wedding portrait she had copies of framed in both her apartment at Yale (until she graduated last month and moved to the base) and in their apartment on base. _I love you Quinn Puckerman_ is scribbled in Puck's messy scrawl on the bottom of the photograph and she flips in over to find the answer to why the hell he sent her a key. _Hallway cupboard, middle drawer, _is all that he had written. She had long since assumed that particular drawer was stuck and never budging, she'd never actually considered the possibility of it being locked since she'd never seen a key. Inside the drawer was a messily wrapped gift, tearing it open; she found a beautiful leather bound, 1st edition copy of Alice in Wonderland, her favorite book, and something she had wanted for a long time. Inside the cover there was another note from Noah:

_Q,_

_I love you. I'm not much of a reader, unless you count your letters, and I don't particularly see the appeal of an old book, but I know you've wanted this for a long time._

_Happy first wedding anniversary baby,_

_Noah._

She took her gift into the lounge room and spent the afternoon enjoying her husband's thoughtful, and completely unexpected, gift.

* * *

A very long week later, she was standing in the airport terminal, waiting nervously as Puck's flight landed.

"This is always the worst part" Jane whispered to her, "Knowing they're on the other side of the door filling out paperwork"

"I just need to see him" Quinn replies, "Then I don't care how much paperwork they need."

"Like I said, always the worst part."

A torturous twenty minutes later, Puck walks through the entrance to the main terminal, his duffle bag slung over his shoulder. Without hesitation, and with the biggest grin on her face, Quinn jogs the few meters towards him, jumping into his arms.

"Thank God you're home" She whispers, kissing him over and over. "I missed you so much."

"I told you so" He replies, capturing her lips for a fierce kiss.

"If we don't get out of here right now, we'll get arrested." Quinn whispered, a smirk tugging at her lips.

"Is that so?" He asked smugly, "Then let's get out of here."

* * *

Every relationship has a set of unspoken rules, one of Puck and Quinn's was that even though he was the sexually aggressive one in the relationship, she always took over as aggressor after a separation. When they arrived back at their small apartment, Quinn headed straight for their bedroom, allowing Puck to admire the view as he followed behind her.

"Give me a minute" Quinn told him, slipping into the bathroom, leaving Puck to sit on the bed and wait for her.

She came back a minute later, in only the skimpiest lingerie set he'd ever seen, standing in between his legs, she lent down to place soft kisses over his entire face, before placing longer, more languid kisses on his lips. Positioning her legs so that she was straddling him, she began to explore his body all the while not breaking their kiss; beginning with his arms, where the stiches had been removed by the scaring was still puckered and red against his tan skin tone. Next she ran her hands down his chest to the hem of his t-shirt, tugging it up slowly to reveal his prominent abdominal muscles, and then the tan expanse of his brawny chest. Her hands wandered over his chest, his stomach and down his back, caressing his body, refamiliarizing herself with every cut line. Slowly her hands wandered down to his belt, and all too slowly, she removed that too, before unbuttoning his pants and undoing the fly. She tugged on the belt loop, signaling to him she wanted them off completely, and without breaking their kiss, he wrapped one arm under her and stood up off the bed as if she weighed nothing at all. She used her feet to slid his pants and his boxers down, letting them pool at his feet.

Unwrapping her legs from his waist, she slid off him and back onto the floor, before pushing him backwards onto the bed. She was under no illusions that her push had actually had anything to down with him falling backwards onto the bed, but her ego appreciated the romanticism. Crawling on top of him, she reattached their lips briefly before kissing her way down his neck, over his chest, very, very slowly down his abs, taking the time to trace the lines with the tip of her tongue, before she reached his very prominent erection. Cradling his balls with one hand, she took one long lick all the way up his shaft before putting just the tip in her mouth and sucking hard, slowly she sucked more of him into her mouth, moving up and down, taking in a little more at a time until his cock hit the back of her throat. She worked him over furiously until she heard an all too familiar groan and he released straight down her throat. Swallowing everything he gave her, Quinn licked her lips before kissing her way back up his body and reattaching their lips.

They kissed slowly for a few more minutes before Puck unsnapped the clasp of her bra, pulling it from her body and very carefully rolled them over so that he was on top of her. He propped himself up on one arm, his tongue exploring the depths of her mouth as one hand reached down and caressed her nipple. The moan that came from the back of her throat was enough to tell him he was doing a good job. With one final peck to her lips, he broke away from her mouth to kiss his way down her neck, stopping to leave a hickey that he knows he'll enjoy watching her try to hide in the morning, before continuing over her collarbone before attaching his lips to her overly sensitive nipple, laving with his tongue and biting down gently before moving onto its twin. She writhes under his ministrations and when he can sense that she's starting to get impatient, he slowly continues kissing down her stomach, to her pelvic bone before he finally reaches the place she truly wants him, kissing her still covered heat as she squirms. Looping a finger on either side of the tiny lace garment, he slowly drags the sopping wet panties down her legs before tossing it away. Kissing his way back up her legs, leaving another couple of hickeys on her inner thighs for good measure, he finally takes one long lick up her dripping slit as she arches off the bed with a loud moan. Something about the taste of her on his tongue and her uninhibited moaning has him almost uncomfortably hard in a split second. Quinn's legs wrap around his head, her heel digging into his back to keep him in place. He may be the one eating her out, but there's no doubt that she's still in control. Working her over, causing her to let out a string of moans and curses he _knows_ their neighbors can hear, he smirks proudly at the fact that he can still play her like a finely tuned instrument as she comes hard. After cleaning away the last of her juices, he slowly works his way back up her body; he finally recaptures her lips, allowing her to taste herself on his tongue.

Not only is she tasting herself on his tongue, but the feel of his erection close to her now over sensitive lady business has her completely impatient. "Noah" She moans, "Now," spreading her legs wide for him to get the best access.

"Impatient" He mutters, guiding himself into her, much to slow for her liking, she bucked her hips against him, but he retained his slow pace for several minutes.

"More, Noah" She pleaded, "More"

"Be specific baby" He muttered, he loved when she told him exactly what she wanted.

"Harder" She breathed, "Faster"

He didn't need to be told twice, in fact, he didn't even need to be told once, but he liked hearing her talk a little dirty since as she was such a lady most of her life. It wasn't until he brought Quinn to her climax that he allowed himself to cum as well. He buried his face in the crook of her neck as both of them came down from their respective highs before rolling off her and onto his back, pulling her into his side.

"I love you" She whispered, kissing the closest patch of his skin that she could find.

"I love you too crazy girl" He replied.

* * *

Finn and Rachel stopped by for a few hours after dinner, thankfully they (lets face it: Rachel), had the foresight to call first so they didn't get a show. The next morning, Judy, Moira and Hannah arrived just after breakfast.

"Oh just look at how happy she is" Moira crowed when Puck lead them into the lounge room where Quinn was waiting on the couch, "It's so good to see you smile Quinn."

"And to have Noah home, of course" Judy adds watching her daughter slip into her son-in-law's embrace in a way that she and Russell never would have, even as newlyweds. On one hand it makes her a little jealous that she's never had that, one the other, Judy can only be grateful that her daughter has found that kind of love, with a wonderful man, who she certainly can't foresee walking out on his family for some tattooed freak.

"So, how long does Quinn have to put up with your stupid ass this time?" Hannah asks teasingly, as only a little sister can, "I mean, you can't be home too long or she'll realize what a douchebag you are and divorce you."

"Language Hannah" Moira scolds, "Just because your brother curses like a sailor on leave doesn't mean that you should, you should pay more attention to the way Quinn speaks, she never curses."

"Sure" Puck mutters, chuckling under his breath until Quinn elbows him in the ribs.

* * *

After the morning with their family, Puck goes back to the base for his debriefing and a physical at the base hospital where he gets a clean bill of health. On the way home he stops and grabs a couple of burgers and fries for dinner, because he doesn't think Quinn will want to cook too much. Walking in the front door of their apartment, Quinn is laying on the couch watching TV.

"I thought you might have disappeared on me" Quinn admits as he pulled her into his arms, leaving the takeaway on the coffee table.

"Just a long ass debrief" He tells her, "And I got food."

"Did they tell you how long until you have to go back?" She asks, not knowing whether she should be afraid of the answer.

"They'll give us at least a year between tours, unless something drastic happens." He replies, "Your stuck with me for a while crazy girl."

"I was lonely while you were gone" She admits shyly.

"I know babe" He whispers, "Maybe we'll get you a puppy to keep you company before I go away next."

"Or a baby?" She suggests timidly.

"A baby!?" He repeats questioningly.

"I know we're young and we've never really talked about it before but, I've been thinking about it a long since you've been gone" She explains, "And even though people will probably think we're crazy, we both have good jobs and a place to live and who knows, maybe know is not a perfect time, but what if a perfect time never comes."

"And Rachel's pregnant right?" He asks, "Is that why you suddenly want a baby too?"

"I don't suddenly want a baby just because Rachel and Finn are having one" She says defensively, "It's something I've been thinking about for a long time, and I think now is a good time to start working on it."

"You mean right this second?" He asks, leering at her cleavage.

"If you play your cards right" She says, "So what do you say?"

"I think, I can't wait to see what you look like knocked up." He leans down to kiss her but then pulls away suddenly at the last second, "Wait…"

"What?" She asks, silently praying that he hadn't changed his mind already, "What is it?"

"Do you want us to have a kid now because your worried we won't get a chance to later?" He asks, "Because something might happen to me?"

"No" She says, a little taken back by his statement, "This is about me wanting to have your children, this is about me wanting to have a family with you, and if you want to wait a little while longer then that's okay, but I just want it to be in our future."

He sighs, honestly he wasn't expecting that answer, now he's just confused, on one hand he definitely wants to have a family with her, on the other, part of him is saying that its too soon.

"You can take some time to think about it if you want" She suggests quietly, "But you should be aware you were about to get laid anyway."

"Oh yeah?" He asks, smirking.

"Yeah" She confirms.

* * *

A week later, the dreaded baby issue is still hanging over their heads, Puck has yet to come up with an answer, and Quinn has been trying her best not to push the subject. She's rinsing off her toothbrush when Puck enters their bathroom and leans against the counter next to her.

"Where are your birth control pills?" He asks.

"Why?" She replies, confused about his motives, normally he would have no interest in her pills.

"Because I asked nicely." He replies, "Hand 'em over"

She senses that she's not going to get a straight answer from him, even if she questioned him for another hour, so she sighs and reaches into the medicine cabinet, pulling out the circular compact of pills and placing them in his upturned palm.

He opens the compact, gives the pills a cursory glance before throwing the whole compact into the wastebasket. "What are you doing?" She asks, bemused by his actions.

"You don't need 'em anymore, I was just cleaning up" He replies without any emotion in his voice, she covers her mouth in shock, "You do still want a kid don't you?"

"Yes I still want a kid!" She exclaimed, jumping into his arms.

"I think we should start working on it right now" He suggests.

* * *

The first month of trying brings the first negative pregnancy test. Rationally, Quinn knows that she shouldn't be crying, it takes on average a young, healthy couple between twelve and eighteen months to get pregnant, and seen as she only just stopped taking her birth control pills, the chances of her getting pregnant this month were slim anyway. Wiping a few stray tears away, she throws the test in the trash before reaching for her prenatal vitamins, she downs one as Puck walks into the bathroom. Wrapping his arms around her from behind, he kisses her cheek softly as she smiles.

"Not this month" She tells him, toying with his wedding ring.

"That's okay, we'll try again" He whispers giving her another kiss. "And again, and even when we do get you knocked up, we'll try and make it a twin"

"But what if I'm already having twins?" She joked.

"A triplet then" He replies.

"But what if I'm already having triplets?" She asked, barely suppressing a laugh at his clueless expression, "You don't know what four babies are, do you?"

"You don't either smarty pants" He retorted.

"Quadruplets. Why would you even want four kids at once?" She asked, "I'd be huge!"

"More to love" He shrugs. "Seriously thou, it'll happen."

"I know" She replies, "I'm just impatient."

* * *

After the first negative pregnancy test, Quinn decided to check online about what the fastest way of getting pregnant was. She spent a good couple of hours reading about couples who scheduled sex around ovulation cycles, reverted to specific (and in her opinion: dull) positions to maximize the chance of pregnancy, and all the women on forums who were complaining about not enjoying sex, and whining about their husbands being inconsiderate or not understanding what they were going through. Knowing she had a decision to make, whether to conform to the way these women were desperately trying to get pregnant or keep doing what she was doing. Knowing that her husband would go along with anything that she asked of him, she knew this was a decision she had to make for herself. Then again, she needed someone who would listen to her vent and help her make the right choice. So she headed to the Hudsons.

"Quinn, what's wrong?" Rachel asked when she answered the door, "You sounded frantic on the phone."

"Noah and I are trying to get pregnant" She blurted out as she and Rachel sat down in the Hudsons living room.

"Okay" Rachel said, placing one hand over her still-flat stomach, "Do you not want a baby, Quinn?"

"I do, but I'm scared that with his job, it takes up to eighteen months for most people to get pregnant, he's not going to be around for that long" Quinn vented, "What if it never happens?"

"I know that there are women who have certain tricks to get pregnant" Rachel said, "Maybe have a look online?"

"I did, but Rachel, those women haven't had an orgasm in months, they hate sex, they resent their husbands for not getting them pregnant, their whole lives revolve around having a baby, and there miserable." Quinn ranted, "I don't want to be one of those women, I love Noah and I'm happy with him, and I don't want my life to revolve around getting pregnant."

"Then I guess you answered your own dilemma, Quinn" Rachel said, "If you don't want to be one of those women, don't be. You'll get pregnant eventually, and if Noah's reputation from sophomore year is anything to go by, you'll have a lot of fun doing it."

"You have no idea" Quinn muttered, "Who would have thought I have to come to you for sane advice."

"Awww" Rachel laughed, "My crazy balances out your crazy"

"And the whole world suffers" Quinn laughed, "So, are you going back to Broadway after the baby is born?"

"Duh" Rachel mutters, she's still doing all her shows, but as soon as she starts to show, she knows she'll have to take time off, "Who is Rachel Barbara Berry without Broadway?"

"What is Broadway without Rachel Barbara Berry?" Quinn countered.

* * *

Puck woke up late after spending half the night arguing with Quinn over something so completely random that he honestly couldn't remember much about it, except it suddenly had Quinn all worked up. He barely registered that she wasn't in the bed with him, not that he expected her to be, before pulling himself up and stumbling towards the bathroom.

Quinn turned when she heard the door open, picking up the closest thing she could find she threw it at her husband, "Leave me alone asshole" She screamed as he turned around and closed the door behind him.

"What crawled up your butt?" He asked through the door. Seconds later he heard the telltale bang of some other random object Quinn had clearly hurled at the door.

"Get lost fuck head" Quinn screamed.

"You better be pregnant because that attitude is totally uncalled for" He yelled back before leaving her to go and make himself some breakfast.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Quinn finally came out of the bathroom, padding softly towards the kitchen where she could hear Puck singing softly as he cooked. She knew he was aware of her presence, so she walked up behind him slowly and slid her arms around him, placing a gentle kiss on his bare shoulder blades.

"I'm sorry for being a bitch" She whispered against his back.

"How did the pregnancy test go?" He asked, turning to face her.

"How the hell did you know about that?" She asked.

"You threw the box at my head" He laughed, "Or have you already forgotten?"

"Well, apparently my attitude wasn't totally uncalled for" She said seriously, watching as his face lit up, "I'm pregnant."

He picked her up off the ground and placed her on the kitchen counter, standing in between her legs, he kissed every inch of her face and neck.

"Your pancakes are going to burn" She laughed as he kissed the sensitive spot just below her ear.

"We'll have cereal later" He replied dismissively.

"But I really wanted pancakes." She pouted.

"Crazy girl" He muttered before turning his attention back to the stove.

* * *

Quinn's pregnancy was unimaginably easy, she spent most of the first few months buying and re-decorating their new home and nursery, stubbornly refusing to let a bad case of morning sickness get in her way. They decided on the name Beth during Quinn's eighth month, Puck had been singing the Kiss song when Beth had started kicking, and for the first time she finally let someone besides her mother feel her little legs innocently attacking Quinn's insides. Luckily their doctor was sympathetic when they asked for the labor to be induced, earlier than what would be considered standard procedure, because Puck was being deployed due to an emergency situation overseas. Quinn had known that all the chips had fallen in her favor, but she hadn't expected her luck to change on their delivery table.

Seconds after giving birth, Quinn lost consciousness. The doctors sprang into action, rushing her out of the room and into the OR. Minutes later a nurse had finished cleaning up their baby girl and handed her to her father for the first time.

"Hey baby girl" He whispered, staring down at the tiny replica of his wife, "You're Mumma isn't doing so good right now, but she's going to be okay, she's been so excited to finally meet you."

* * *

The nurses gave Puck a wide berth as he spent his first few moments with his daughter, they were aware that this was the soldier leaving for Afghanistan in a few days. It took a few hours for Quinn to come out of surgery, and the doctors suggested that Beth not be present when she woke up. Puck split his time evenly between Quinn's bedside and the nursery for the few hours before she woke up.

"Beth?" She asked, the second the breathing tube was removed from her throat.

"She's perfect Quinn" Puck told her, stroking her face with a single finger, "She looks just like you."

"Where is she?" Quinn asked, "I want to see her"

"They'll bring her in soon" He whispered, "But you need to rest, you just gave birth and had surgery."

"I need to see her" Quinn whispered, tearing up, bottom lip trembling, "Please."

"I'll see what I can do" He replied, leaving her to find her doctor.

Minutes later, Puck returned with a grave looking doctor following behind him.

"Mrs Puckerman, its good to see you awake" He said, "I was the surgeon who operated on you this evening."

"What happened to her?" Puck asked.

"Quinn had a very slight hemorrhage of the uterine lining, which we managed to repair before a significant amount of damage had been done to her entire body." The doctor explained, "However, in order to save our life, Mrs Puckerman, we had to remove your uterus. I'm very sorry, we had no alternatives."

"I want to see my daughter now" Quinn stated in a monotone.

"Mrs. Puckerman, I understand that this is a great shock to you, I think you should take some time to process this before you see your daughter" The doctor stated.

"Someone bring me my child" Quinn stated.

"Mrs Puckerman…" The doctor said again.

"Please just let her see our daughter" Puck asked.

A nurse placed Beth in Quinn's awaiting arms only a few long minutes later before retreating slowly to give the young family some privacy.

"I told you see was perfect" Puck whispered, his eyes glued to his two girls.

"I can't believe she's finally here" Quinn whispered, "We're a family now."

"Just the three of us" He replied, leaning down to give Beth a gentle kiss on the forehead.

"It's only ever going to be the three of us" Quinn whispered, before completely changing emotions, from blissfully happy to emotionally detached, "Take her" she demanded, forcing Beth into Puck's arms.

"Quinn, what is it" He asked, adjusting the baby in his grip.

"You have to take her and leave" Quinn said, "Logically it's the best thing for her, she deserves to grow up with two parents that love her and brothers or sisters and a big backyard, maybe even a couple of dogs. Not a mother without a uterus, logically I know what happens next, I'll end up resenting her because of it and she doesn't deserve that. And you deserve a wife who can give you children, a whole football team if you want, and that person can't be me anymore. You have to do the best thing for Beth now, and logically that person isn't me, you know you'll find someone worthy of being her mother, and your wife, it's only right."

Puck put Beth down in the hospital crib that the nurses had left before turning back to his wife. "Quinn listen to me right now" He stated seriously, "None of that is going to happen, you are Beth's mother, you and I are going to be the ones raising her, no one else. Uterus or not, I know that you love Beth just as much as I do and you'll never resent her for anything, you are the best person in her life Quinn and the best thing in mine."

"Noah" Quinn sobbed, "I'm not, I can't have any more babies."

"There's other ways Quinn" He replied, "When the time comes, we'll figure out another way, adoption maybe."

"I don't want another way" She sobbed, "I just wanted to carry your children, our children."

"And you did Quinn" He replies, "Look at that gorgeous baby we made, you carried her, didn't you?"

"She wasn't supposed to be the only one" Quinn cried, "I know what its like to grow up as an only child, it's miserable, I don't want that for her."

"She won't be an only child Quinn" He whispers, "When the time comes, we'll figure out the best way to get her a sibling."

* * *

It took a few more hours for Puck to talk Quinn around to accepting what had happened to her. Before long the nurses started coming in to check on the Puckerman women, and teach Quinn how to breastfeed. Puck spend as much time with Beth in his arms as possible, something that Quinn could not begrudge him for, as they both felt the weight of the countdown clock upon them.

Just after she put Beth down from her first nurse-free feeding, Quinn dragged Puck onto the tiny hospital bed to cuddle with her one last time.

"This is a pretty different send off to last year" He laughed quietly. "I guess coming home will be a little different too."

"No, we'll just get a grandparent to babysit" Quinn replied, "That is if I let you leave. I mean if you go, who'll change all the stinky diapers?"

"Ah, you figured out my genius plan" He replied sarcastically, "Damn"

"Very funny" She laughed, "Seriously, I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too" He replied.

* * *

The next morning, Judy and Moira arrived early enough to say there goodbyes to Puck and meet their grandbaby. Quinn sat crying on the bed as Puck held their daughter for the last time.

"And you make sure to give Nana hell, kid" Puck told his daughter, smirking at his mother, "But you be an angel for your Mum."

"You're corrupting my granddaughter" Moira complained.

Realizing the time, Puck sighed as he passed Beth to the nurse that had come in to help feed breastfeed. "I have to go" He told his wife, who sobbed again, "Quinn?"

"I know, I know" She whispered as he lent down and kissed her, "I love you, I'll miss you, we'll miss you, be safe and come home to us."

"I will crazy girl, I promise" He replied, "I love you."


End file.
